It would seem to me that public health needs to strengthen our ties with the
economic development crowd. Economic development is more than bringing a big
industry into a community. Many of the people working in this sector
understand the connection between a communities health and it's ability to
support equitable distribution of resources, services and healthy
environments.
This comment comes from some positive experiences with this approach.
bobj
bobj
"The problem is not lack of awareness -- it's lack of inspiration."
Robert Swan, Explorer www.fastcompany.com
Bob Jeffery, Health Planner
Northwestern Health Unit
396 Scott St
Fort Frances, On
P9A 1G9
Ph 807-274-9827
fax 807-274-0779
www.nwhu.on.ca
-----Original Message-----
From: Stirling, Alison <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: December 6, 1999 10:51 AM
Subject: "Poor too busy surviving to worry about disease prevention" artic
le in AJPH
>The following is a short article/newspiece in Charity Village Vibes (an
>email bulletin sent out on Mondays) that comes from the American Journal of
>Public Health. I thought that it would be of interest to this list. While
>these findings are not very surprising to most of us - it is an important
>study to be able to have published and be able to use in our work.
>
>It is an 'interesting', and painfully revealing, accompaniment to several
>messages posted recently on CLICK4HP which have discussed poverty and
>health. In particular, these messages have included information supplied by
>several health units' monitoring of 'food baskets' (where low-income
>families would have a choice of shelter OR healthy food, not both); and
also
>Michael Valpy's recent column in the Globe & Mail, about Mel Hurtig's book
>"Pay the Rent or Feed the Kids - the Disgrace of Poverty in Canada". That
>title says a great deal.
>
>I would like to revive our discussion about what health promotion
>practitioners can do, strategies and approaches that we can take, to
address
>poverty and economic determinants of health. We know that there is a direct
>correlation of income to health, and these studies and messages have shown
>us that our 'mandated' work in programming is not enough to make any impact
>in changing the basic situation of people experiencing poverty. So what
>should we be doing that IS effective?
>
>Comments anyone?
>
>Alison
>
>* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
>Alison Stirling, health promotion consultant
>OPC - Prevention Clearinghouse
>E-Mail: [log in to unmask] Internet: http://www.web.net/~stirling/
>1(800) 263-2846 OR (416) 408-2121 ext 2226
>Suite 1900, 180 Dundas St. W. Toronto ON M5G 1Z8.
>* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
>
>
>Poor too busy surviving to worry about disease prevention
>
>Writing in the latest issue of the American Journal of Public Health,
>Canadian researcher Jennifer O'Loughlin concludes that poor people are
"more
>concerned with...day-to-day social and economic living challenges than
they
>[are] about the possibility of developing a chronic disease in the distant
>future." As a result of these immediate challenges, prevention-oriented
>public health campaigns are often ineffective in poorer regions. In
studying
>a low-income neighbourhood in Montreal over a five-year period, O'Loughlin
>and fellow researchers found that participation rates for a Healthy Heart
>program came in at only two percent and concluded that "benefits [of the
>program] at the community level were minimal." Researchers also noted that
>the prevention program may have suffered because of high rates of
illiteracy
>in the area and overtaxed community groups that could not deliver program
>elements over time.
>
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