Health In all policies: a philosophy for jobs of the future.
In our first episode of the Pubhealth Test talks we will be chatting to a longtime professional in “Health in all policies”, so before we get to that let’s introduce what the term means.
Health in all Policies, as the term implies, is a policy framework that asks decision makers across government, NGOs and Business to reflect on the ways in which they can contribute to the health and wellbeing of society. The Health in All Policies framework was first developed building on the concept of “healthy public policy” one of the key values of the Ottawa charter for health promotion, a foundational document in the philosophy of modern public health promotion.
In 2007, then Adelaide thinker in residence Ilona Kickbusch developed model for Health in All policies and recommended it’s adoption as the South Australian Government’s official policy framework.
Since Then, Health in All polices has only grown in importance. The Frameworks emphasises an interdisciplinary and multi-sector approach to public policy has been useful in addressing issues ranging from environmental health in the face of climate change (Browne and Rutherfurd, 2017) (Khanal, Ramadani and Boeckmann, 2022) to addressing the complex fallout of the Covid-19 Pandemic (Green et al., 2021). To better get a feel for the term, some made up examples are listed below
According to Ibis World (an industry research organization based in Manhattan America, but founded in Melbourne Australia) the healthcare and social services sector represented the second fastest growing industry in Australia. Current Data suggests the percentage of Australia’s population over the age of sixty five is increasing and will continue to do so into the future. The Australian Institute of health and Welfare (the Australian government’s peak institute for population health data) predicts that by 2066 20.7% of the population will be over sixty five, in comparison to a estimated 16.8 in the current year (2024) and just 12.4% in the year 2000.
(graph by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2024)
As our society ages, the complex needs of our population will not be able to be addressed by the healthcare sector alone. Health In all policies then, will be a vital framework in incorporating multi-sector co-operation into policy discussions across sectors in Australia.
References
‘Adelaide Statement II on Health in All Policies’ (2017) in. International Conference on Health in All Policies, Adelaide, Australia: World Health Organization, pp. 7–8. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/daw103.
Browne, G.R. and Rutherfurd, I.D. (2017) ‘The Case for “Environment in All Policies”: Lessons from the “Health in All Policies” Approach in Public Health’, Environmental Health Perspectives, 125(2), pp. 149–154. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP294.
Green, L. et al. (2021) ‘“Health in All Policies”—A Key Driver for Health and Well-Being in a Post-COVID-19 Pandemic World’, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(18), p. 9468. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18189468.
Greer, S.L. et al. (2024) ‘From Health in All Policies to Health for All Policies: the logic of co-benefits’, in S.L. Greer et al. (eds) Health for All Policies. 1st edn. Cambridge University Press, pp. 1–18. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009467766.001.
IBISWorld - Industry Market Research, Reports, and Statistics (no date). Available at: https://www.ibisworld.com/default.aspx
Khanal, S., Ramadani, L. and Boeckmann, M. (2022) ‘Health Equity in Climate Change Policies and Public Health Policies Related to Climate Change: Protocol for a Systematic Review’, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(15), p. 9126. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19159126.
WHO and the Government of South Australia (2010) ‘The Adelaide Statement on Health in All Policies: moving towards a shared governance for health and well-being’, Health Promotion International, 25(2), pp. 258–260. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/daq034.
