Policies, Politics, and Paradigms: Healthy Planning in Australian Local Government

Abstract

Local government in Australia is critically positioned to provide built environment initiatives that respond to the increasing prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCD), climate change, and various other human and ecological health considerations. However, action on the ground has not been as widespread as might be expected, particularly in improving community health. This research explores the barriers to and enablers of the implementation of healthy planning and active living initiatives through in-depth interviews with healthy planning and active living advocates. Advocates are seen to promote healthy planning in relatively weak policy settings, where politicised, largely reactive decisions by individual politicians or practitioners are the main determinants of project success. The most important factor affecting project uptake and implementation is how the 'problem' of healthy planning, or what might be considered a healthy planning paradigm, is presented. Such a paradigm includes a strong reliance on the co-benefits of projects; it is also subject to the way that healthy planning is communicated and framed. Potential problems around such a setting are subsequently examined, identifying the potential reasons for the slow delivery of healthy planning.

Missed opportunities for improving oral health in rural Victoria: The role of municipal public health planning in improving oral health

“…In Australia, LGs are the arm of government “closest to the people”, 35 which means they have unique experience of public health priorities at the local level, and play an important role in determining the health and well‐being of their local communities. 32 , 36 The purpose of MPHWPs is to encourage LGs to understand and address, as far as possible, the health challenges that their communities face. For people living in rural areas, these challenges are often enormous, impacted by a range of social determinants.…”

Urban Climate Policy and Action through a Health Lens—An Untapped Opportunity

“…Health impact assessments (HIAs) are a practical approach used to judge the potential health effects of a policy, programme or project on a population, particularly on vulnerable or disadvantaged groups, Along with related models such as comparative risk assessments or integrated HIAs [ 25 ], these tools have demonstrated the potential health co-benefits of urban climate strategies that were highlighted in the previous section [ 3 ]. Nonetheless, this policy-oriented research has not been followed by widespread policy action [ 26 , 27 , 28 ]. The lack of uptake of research on urban climate change policies can be attributed to a complex myriad of factors.…”

“…A lack of political will and leadership poses a great threat to the implementation of ambitious integrated climate change and health policies [ 28 , 33 ]. Policymakers must contend with vested interests, powerful lobbies, and a common misperception that public health policies restrain economic growth [ 27 , 34 , 35 ].…”

“…Transformative action towards integrated solutions to health will thus rely on understanding the powers at play and the imperatives of electoral cycles, identifying leverage points, and developing convincing arguments tailored to these realities. Public health research has often been criticized in the past for its lack of engagement in politics [ 28 , 36 ], limiting the usefulness and uptake of its outputs. To be policy-relevant, research must integrate the complex dynamics of decision-making processes [ 37 ].…”

European Countries Ranking and Clustering Solution by Children’s Physical Activity and Human Development Index Using Entropy-Based Methods

“…There is no clear understanding of how different indicators impact objective calculated weight values. However, the public health legislative setting and politicized decisions evidence-based build public health planning initiatives that objective on a paradigm for countries success [5]. Public economic wellbeing depends on incentives for community healthy social behavior and an environment, workplaces, schools, and homes that allow healthy behavior to be realized.…”