Pacific determinants of health

Time: 9.30-3.30

Equity and Social Determinants of Health

The WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health has produced a landmark report on actions to improve health and reduce inequalities. The report, Closing the Gap in a Generation, which has special relevance to health promoters, says that avoidable inequities in health "arise because of the circumstances in which people, live, work and age and the systems put in place to deal with illness. The conditions in which people live and die are, in turn, shaped by political, social, and economic forces." Further, the report states that improving health requires actions to improve daily living conditions, tackle the inequitable distribution of power, money and resources, and measure and understand the problem and assess the impact of action.

At the 2009 HPF Symposium, the former New Zealand Governor-General said:

It is often said that good health promotion is about ensuring healthy communities, symbolically represented by the fence at the top of the cliff rather than the ambulance at the bottom (Sir Anand Satyanand, former Governor General of New Zealand).

The Commission went much further by effectively questioning why the cliff exists in the first place. It called for a new approach to development that saw health as the goal of all social policies rather merely a welcome by-product. And most strikingly, it challenged the nations, communities and the international community to close the health gap in a generation (WHO, 2008).

Globally, the report Closing the Gaps in a Generation: Health Equity through Action on the Social Determinants of Health by the Commission on Social Determinants of Health, calls on the WHO and all governments to lead global action on the social determinants of health with the aim of achieving health equity.

This workshop explores health determinants of health as a new approach to development as identified by the Commission on Social Determinants of Health:

Pacific peoples in New Zealand are disproportionately represented in the lower socioeconomic strata, and this is significant because of our experiences with poor health outcomes (Talemaitoga, June, 2011). The Ministry of Health acknowledges that the reasons for the relatively poor health of Pacific peoples in New Zealand are numerous and complex. For example, the social and economic factors that have been shown to have the greatest influence on health are income and poverty, employment and occupation, education, housing, and ethnicity (Ministry of Health).

Workshop Objectives

• To increase your understanding of social determinants of health
• To identify strategies which the social determinants of health approach might bring in order to advance the health and wellbeing of Pacific peoples

People working in public health and health promotion are welcome to this workshop which will be of special relevance for health promotion practitioners and leaders involved in planning, developing, and managing health promotion services.

You will gain more from the workshop if you are able to look at the Executive Summary of Closing the Gap in a Generation. You can find this in the Resources section on this web site, visit the Determinants of Health and Equity tab.

Learning Outcomes

At the end of the workshop we hope that you will be able to;

• Briefly describe the WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health;
• Discuss the three key recommendations in Closing the Gap in a Generation;
• Describe at least one way in which you can apply the Commission's recommendations to your work;
• Identify at least one way of sharing the Commission's recommendations with your networks; and
• Know where to get further information.

This workshop also explores health equity issues through social determinants of health lens. It highlights health equity challenges in health and examines the opportunities and challenges that the social determinants of health approach might bring to health promoters including Pacific promoters as well as Social Service Providers.

About the facilitators

Dr Alison Blaiklock

Dr Alison Blaiklock is the Executive Director of HPF. She is taking a series of workshops around the country on the WHO Commission and its report and recommendations. Alison is a public health physician and her special interests are the health of children and young people, the determinants of health, and health and human rights.

Ieti Lima

Ieti is Senior Health Promotion Strategist looking after Pacific health promotion development at the Health Promotion Forum on a part-time basis. He is also a Senior Researcher with the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs. His research interests include social, cultural, public health and community development initiatives. Ieti has a PhD in Sociology, a Masters in Development Studies and a BA in Political Studies and Sociology from the University of Auckland.

General Information

Tea and Coffee will be served upon arrival and a light lunch will be included.

Plenty of car parking is available.

There are only a limited number of places available so early registration is recommended

References

World Health Organization. 2008. Closing the Gap in a Generation: Health Equity through Action on the Social Determinants of Health. Final Report Executive Summary. WHO.
Talemaitoga, A. “Pacific peoples: our health and wellbeing”. Journal of Primary Health Care. June 2011: Vol 3:2.