Journal Articles

To what Extent do Australian Health Policy Documents address Social Determinants of Health and Health Equity?

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Evidence on social determinants of health and health equity (SDH/HE) is abundant but often
not translated into effective policy action by governments. Governments’ health policies
have continued to privilege medical care and individualised behaviour-change strategies. In
the light of these limitations, the 2008 Commission on the Social Determinants of Health
called on health agencies to adopt a stewardship role; to take action themselves and
engage other government sectors in addressing SDH/HE. This article reports on research
using analysis of health policy documents – published by nine Australian national or regional
governments – to examine the extent to which the Australian health sector has taken up
such a role.
We found policies across all jurisdictions commonly recognised evidence on SDH/HE and expressed goals to improve health equity. However, these goals were predominantly
operationalised in health care and other individualised strategies. Relatively few strategies
addressed SDH/HE outside of access to health care, and often they were limited in scope.
National policies on Aboriginal health did most to systemically address SDH/HE.
We used Kingdon's (2011) multiple streams theory to examine how problems, policies and
politics combine to enable, partially allow, or prevent action on SDH/HE in Australian health
policy.

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Detail Information

Series Title

Journal of Social Policy

Call Number

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Publisher

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press., 2016

Collation

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Language

English

ISBN/ISSN

0047-2794

Classification

NONE

Content Type

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Media Type

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Carrier Type

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Edition

Volume 45 - Issue 3 - July 2016, pp. 545-564

Subject(s)

health policy
Australia
Evidence

Specific Detail Info

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Statement of Responsibility

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