Health Promotion

Darebin Community Health has identified four key priority issues for action:

Capacity building
Goal: To strengthen the capacity of DCH and partners agencies to understand and address health inequalities by 2009

Accessible Nutritious Food
Goal: To ensure that everyone in Darebin is able to obtain enough healthy food for everyday living by 2009

Physical activity and Active Communities
Goal: To increase physical activity participation in groups most at risk of being inactive in Darebin to levels that achieve health gains by 2009

Mental health promotion
Goal: To work in partnership with agencies and the Darebin community to increase individual and community mental health and wellbeing by acting on the determinants: social inclusion, freedom from discrimination and violence and access to economic resources by 2009

Target Population groups
Our health promotion initiatives are targeted at groups for whom we believe we can have the greatest impact: These currently include:

• Children under 12 years old and their families
• Newly arrived refugees and asylum seekers
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders
• Areas within Darebin that experience significant socio economic disadvantage

Settings
We have identified a number of key settings for health promotion action
• Disadvantaged neighbourhoods
• Public housing estates – older isolated residents
• Education settings
• Places for young people
• Darebin Community Health
• Early childhood services and facilities

Major Projects
• Healthy Schools Project
• Young Peoples Project
• Our Homes Our Health Project
• Community Connections Project
• East Reservoir Neighbourhood Renewal

Partners:
Long term health gains are achieved by working in partnership with the community and a range of organisations within and outside the health sector. DCH will join up with local government, housing, education, welfare, arts, sport and recreation and community organisations such as neighbourhood houses to bring about social, economic and environmental changes at the individual, organisation and community levels.