RHP&EO is the electronic journal of the International
Union for Health Promotion and Education
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One Australian's Key Health Promotion Resourcesby Michael Sparks, BA, M Ed, MPH, Director of Health Improvement, Australian Capital Territory Health, Canberra Australia. Sparks, M. One Australian's Key Health Promotion Resources, Reviews of Health Promotion and Education Online, 2004. URL: 1/index.htm. I am pleased, as an Australian health promotion practitioner, to describe five resources that have significantly influenced my thinking and my work. Choosing five resources that have been greatly influential is difficult because it is challenging to limit a list to that number. The Ottawa Charter (WHO, 1986), the Jakarta Declaration (WHO, 1997) and Wilkinson and Marmot's (1998) work on the social determinants of health are such seminal documents that I have not chosen to include them though they direct so much of contemporary health promotion practice, research and advocacy. Instead I present five resources that have personal resonance and influence in my practice as a health promotion worker, manager and policy maker. CompassionThe first resource I'd like to discuss is the human quality of compassion. I believe that the desire to help others is a strong motivating factor for many health promotion practitioners. The desire to work with others to improve their health and their prospects for health is what keeps many of us active in the health promotion field. Of course, health promotion practitioners do not have a monopoly of compassion. This human quality drives many people to caring professions, but it is my experience that many health promotion practitioners use compassion as a resource to support their work. For some it is instinctive, for others it is based on a religious or philosophical principle. The genesis of this compassion doesn't seem to matter in its successful application to the health promotion field.For many of us in health promotion compassion is at the core of our values-base. It informs our belief in participation, social justice and community-oriented approaches. It is supported by our respect for others as human beings and our desire to enable and empower them and their communities. I was initially drawn to work in health promotion because of a direct health threat in my community. Compassion and a desire to help my community led me to an organisation that taught me to direct this compassion into work that would support, empower and value the lived experiences of others. Through this process I learned the rudiments of health promotion and discovered that compassion directed into action is personally rewarding and empowering. I believe it is compassion that drives many of us onward in the face of broader adoption of a markets/competition/materialism philosophy that leads to reduced government spending on social infrastructure and changes in tax structures that result in increasing inequalities. We witness the whittling away of the gains we have made in health promotion in the past decades and our compassion and commitment leads us to redouble our efforts. We realise the wrongs of the world are unlikely to be righted in our lifetime but compassion and a belief in the human spirit keeps us going. MentoringSecond, I would like to mention the benefits of having a mentor. Many readers will be familiar with the concept of a mentor as an experienced individual who works with a less experienced individual to advise, train, support and impart knowledge and the benefit of their greater experience. In exchange the mentor often learns about herself (or himself), the process of developing others and other valuable lessons related to the work of the other person. This happens formally through structured programs and informally in life through family members, friends and colleagues. There are increasing numbers of projects and workshops that teach the fundamentals of this practice and try to foster its broader adoption (Murray, M. & Owen, M.A. 1991; CDC 2003). Mentor programs are increasingly becoming part of workplace training, peer education, and training for health promotion workers.The most influential mentor to my health promotion practice has been Associate Professor Jan Ritchie. I was very fortunate to have met Jan and I continue to learn from her through our interactions with the IUHPE Regional Committee for the South West Pacific and the Australian Health Promotion Association. I think the basis of our relationship is respect and trust - a sound foundation for any mentor and their protégé. My professional life has benefited from having Jan as a mentor and I feel that her calm and rational approach has also been of influence to my personal life as well. The great benefit of my mentor as a resource is that I can still call upon her for advice when faced with a vexing problem or issue. An additional reward from this relationship, however, is the joy that I get when Jan calls upon me for advice. Through this she demonstrates her respect for me and her belief in my judgement. I think we have learned a great deal from each other and I am a strong proponent of having a mentor in the career of every health promotion practitioner, whether through a formal process or an informal one. Health Promotion Research : Towards a New Social EpidemiologyNext, I will mention Health Promotion Research : Towards a New Social Epidemiology (Badura and Kickbusch, 1991). This book, no. 37 in the WHO Regional Publications European Series, was edited by Bernhard Badura and Ilona Kickbusch. I started out in health promotion as a volunteer counselor and provider of support and advocacy in a community-based health organization. Having no formal training in health promotion or public health at the time, I was still struggling to understand how the health promotion practice in which I was engaged fitted in with the broader public health picture. This book's five parts (Healthy public policy; Social and behavioural factors in health promotion; Families, workplaces and hospitals as settings for health promotion; Population-oriented health promotion; and Community intervention in health promotion) provided relevant, easy to understand writings that greatly informed my understanding of the role of health promotion in public policy and vice versa. It also provided clear examples of working with individuals, within settings, with population-based approaches and with community-based interventions. These readings expanded my knowledge and encouraged me to think more broadly about the application of the concepts that underpinned my health promotion practice. From these readings, to which I frequently return for grounding, I developed a firmer, clearer conceptualisation of the importance and range of health promotion.Eberhard's Wenzel's websiteAfter some post-graduate training I secured my first paid health promotion work as a curriculum developer, then moved on to be a manager of projects and contracts. I continued to seek out work and resources that would challenge and further develop my thinking. I was very fortunate to discover http://www.ldb.org/ (Wenzel, 1997-2001)- a public health information web-site run by the late Eberhard Wenzel. The site, still online and well worth looking at, is a testament to one man's commitment, belief and determination to have an impact on public health. I believe he was, for public health in Australia, what the writer and documentary film-maker Michael Moore is to the political conscience of the United States. Eberhard was a prolific writer and commentator and compiler of resources. His site is filled with useful information, links opinions, jokes, art and reflections on everything from health promotion to public health to music to spirituality to Eberhard's own health struggles. You never knew what you would come across on this site, but it was rare to leave it without learning something useful. The site and its corresponding email listserve were regular prompts to read more, to learn more, to think more critically about practice and about the way things work (and how we might influence the way things work). The comments from Eberhard were sometimes provocative, sometimes simplistic, and frequently illuminating. Not everyone agreed with him all the time but it was hard not to respect and admire his efforts in encouraging both thought and action toward improved public health practice.The New Public Health, an Australian PerspectiveThe fifth resource on my list is Fran Baum's, The New Public Health, an Australian Perspective. It was written in 1998 and provides a very strong basis for understanding the health system in Australia from its initial beginnings through to current practice and challenges for the future. This volume provides a single reference point for understanding the history, ideologies, politics, and research in public health in Australia. It also provides information on patterns of health in Australia as well as environmental, behavioural and social challenges into the twenty-first century. This book is perhaps the most frequently used one on my office book shelf when I have a question about the application of public health and health promotion principles in Australia. As a migrant to Australia, it has been an invaluable resource. What it lacks in depth, it makes up for in breadth and referencing.Altogether this list reflects a range of resources that I continue to draw from in my work in health promotion. I have found these resources to be useful across multiple areas of interest and work. I hope others will find them useful as well. Reference
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