Background

This report consists of the health assessment of the city of Brimbank City council. Since 2009, Brimbank City Council’s MPHWP has been incorporated into the Brimbank Community Plan 2009- 2030, which is Council’s overarching strategic planning document. This is in recognition that Council is one of the many agencies responsible for community health and wellbeing; other players include federal and state governments that fund services and programs delivered by regional and local health and community sector organisations. The report shows that the health and wellbeing priorities for Brimbank’s population fall under two categories, namely: (1) addressing determinants of health, and (2) addressing modifiable health risks. Determinants of health are the circumstances in which people live, grow, work and age, and the systems put in place to deal with illness. Examples include: social environment, economic environment, natural environment, and built environment.

The City of Brimbank Estimated Resident Population for 2016 is 205,741, with a population density of 16.68 persons per hectare. The City of Brimbank is located in the western and north-western suburbs of Melbourne, between 11 and 23 kilometres west and north-west of the Melbourne GPO.

The City of Brimbank Community Profile provides demographic analysis for the City and its suburbs based on results from the 2016, 2011, 2006, 2001, 1996 and 1991 Censuses of Population and Housing. The profile is updated with population estimates when the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) releases new figures. The Census usual resident population of the City of Brimbank in 2016 was 194,319, living in 69,275 dwellings with an average household size of 2.95.

With an increased focus on community assessment and working with groups, the text introduces the SDH Assessment Circle-a new model for community assessment as a tool for working with communities to promote health and wellbeing (World Health Organization 2014). Community Practice Portfolio – Brimbank City Council Health Assessment Example Paper

An engaging new case study running through all chapters provides an opportunity for students to relate context to practice and encourages discussion of the social determinants of health (SDH).

1. Assessing Biological characteristics –The Investigation area had an Estimated Resident Population (ERP2) of 205,741 in 2006. This represents 67.5 per cent of Victoria’s population.  According to the 2006 census, the Investigation Area was home to around 12,600 Indigenous persons, representing 0.4 percent of the Area’s total population (Prüss-Üstün, 2016). Outer suburbs, by contrast, show the presence of family age groups with parents (30?49) andchildren (0?19) more dominant. City of Brimbank’s Australian-aboriginal population is recorded in the Census every five years by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The latest Census was conducted in 2011. The Median age of Brim bank is 35 compared to greater Melbourne that is 36, in which 50% is females and 50% of them are male. In 2016, 45% of people in the City of Brimbank, came from countries where English was not their first language. Among these people 16 % are Vietnamese, 12.4% are Australian, 11.5% are from England, 6.5% from Italy, 4.9% from India and Greek people are 3.6%. there are also people of different religion they are Roman Catholic 31.1%, Buddhism 10.8%, Islam 5.8%, Greek orthodox 4.3%, Christian 3.5%, Anglican 3.1% and Hindu 2.9%.
2. Assessing Gender and cultural behaviors –‘Brim bank is a gender equitable city where women live free from violence’. Brim bank City Council commits to a community where females and males are equal and respected. Despite significant gains in gender equity in Australia in recent decades, inequities for women remain across many areas of life. This restricts their ability to fully and equally participate in aspects of community life. Due to some social structures, traditions, stereotypical attitudes and behaviors about women and their role in society, the opportunities for women to realize the same rights and privileges as men are often limited. Gender inequity not only negatively impacts on women’s health and wellbeing, but also the wellbeing of families and communities. The Special Reporter on safe drinking water and sanitation once again raised the issue of LGBTI individuals facing violence in accessing water and sanitation, linked to deeply entrenched stigmatisation; The Advisory Committee of Melbourne, in its progress report on the promotion and protection of human rights in post-disaster and post-conflict situations, highlights the “need to devote specific attention to the LGBT population, particularly in post-disaster and post-conflict situations”. The Advisory Committee states that “stigmatization and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation increase gender-based violence in post-conflict and post-disaster situations, negatively affecting LGBT persons in the provision of food assistance, shelters and humanitarian aid”; The Communications report of Special Procedures also outlines cases of discriminatory laws, violent attacks, torture, death threats, arbitrary detention, physical and sexual violence in detention because of the victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity or expression.
3. Assessing Resources of health services – The Health and Wellbeing Framework shows how Council’s policies, plans and strategies interact with one another to address health and wellbeing priorities for Brim bank residents, and inform Council’s actions to working in partnership with the community, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), for mainly type 2 diabetes, anxiety, arthritis and cancer. There are other agencies undertaking public health initiatives, to protect, promote and improve the health and wellbeing of Brimbank residents (Mekala, 2014). Health Literacy is the ability to find, understand and act on health information, make health decisions and use health services. The majority (59%) of Australians have low health literacy (ABS, 2006).  To build health literacy, emphasis must be placed on the ability of organisations to communicate information and provide services that are accessible, relevant and appropriate for their communities. ISIS Primary Care provides health and welfare services to the municipalities of Brimbank. An organisational commitment was made to establish an integrated approach to health promotion that would result in best practice health promotion within the community and in partnership with other agencies.  The forecast number of deaths in the City of Brimbank is a reflection of death rates assumed for small areas. For historical years, this will equal the number of deaths published by the ABS, where this information was available at the time of forecasting. These rates are based on historical estimates for the City of Brimbank, which have been extrapolated into the future, assuming an increase in expectation of life in all age groups (except 85 years and over).

Death rates are influential in shaping the numbers of older people in an area’s population. Death rates too have been changing, with higher life expectancy at most ages, with men’s life expectancy increasing more than that of women (Levenson & Socia, 2016). Community Practice Portfolio – Brimbank City Council Health Assessment Example Paper

At Melbourne the board sets the tone for the organisation. A key way to demonstrate this top-level leadership is to undertake a board assessment. Boards strive to improve organisational effectiveness through monitoring performance against objectives, plans, budgets and a range of other indicators. This monitoring usually leads to an improvement in performance and governance. It is well recognized that the assessment of a board’s own performance is also a critical aspect of improving performance and governance.

4. Assessing Social and physical environments – By definition, environmental factors affect large groups that share common living or working spaces. These patterns are present across countries and across regions within countries, as well as at smaller scales, such as across urban neighborhoods (Center on Human Needs, 2012b; Kawachi and Subramanian, 2007). Community housing providers are registered and regulated by the state government. Some specialise in helping specific groups, like people with a disability, women, singles and older people. Community Housing Industry Association Victoria’s website has a full list of organisations that are members of the Community Housing Industry Association Victoria (link is external) Community housing provides different types of house depending on the needs and preferences of the family or individual.
   

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5. Assessing Social support network systems – Our Social Support Programs provide a range of activities throughout Brimbank. We cater to older people and people with a disability and their carers, and people with dementia. We also offer some culturally specific programs (Gray, 2013). A main meal is often provided as part of the program along with assistance with transport to the centers. In melbourne these lifestyle programs are all about providing fun, relaxed community outings. We’ve developed these programs to boost independence and to give some of the more frail and/or disabled members of our community a new opportunity for socialising. If you live independently or with a carer, these programs offer a huge variety of experiences and a chance for adventure.
6. Assessing Working conditions and employment – In the 2017 June quarter, the unemployment rate in the City of Brimbank was 11.34%. The unemployment rate is derived from the ABS labour force survey and Centrelink data and compiled by the Department of Employment. It is published quarterly in the Small Area Labour Markets publication, for Local Government Areas. The unemployment rate shown here is the proportion of the resident labour force (those in work or looking for work, and aged over 15) who are looking for work. Unemployment does not include people who don’t have a job but are not seeking a job.80,028 people living in the City of Brimbank in 2016 were employed, of which 61% worked full-time and 36% part-time.
7. The City of Brimbank’s employment statistics are an important indicator of socio-economic status. The levels of full or part-time employment, unemployment and labour force participation indicate the strength of the local economy and social characteristics of the population. Employment status is linked to a number of factors including Age Structure, which influences the number of people in the workforce; the economic base and employment opportunities available in the area and; the education and skill base of the population (Occupations, Industries, and Qualifications).

Unemployment is an important indicator of the economic success of an area. A low unemployment rate can indicate an affluent area with a high rate of access to jobs, or a place where those who can’t find jobs leave the area. A high rate can indicate a declining economy with closures of key industries, or a residential area with a significantly disadvantaged population. The workplace culture of melbourne is fairly casual and egalitarian. You will soon be on a first-name basis with your colleagues, and you may notice an overall appreciation for hard work, modesty, and a down-to-earth attitude. Aggressive negotiation techniques or boasting about your own achievements is rather frowned upon (Bowling, 2014). This mindset is also known as “tall poppy syndrome”. You will rather be expected to prove your competence through hard facts and positive results.

SDH Assessment

The study was compiled on the basis of individual national reports submitted by the EWCO correspondents. The text of each of these national reports is available below. The reports have not been edited or approved by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Fernandes et al., 2014). The national reports were drawn up in response to a questionnaire and should be read in conjunction with it

8. Assessing Literacy and education – We first define ‘assessment literacy’ then report on the development and validation of an assessment literacy measurement instrument. Using a pseudo-experimental design, we quantified the impact of an assessment literacy-building intervention on students’ assessment literacy levels and on their subsequent performance on an assessment task. The intervention involved students in the experimental condition analysing, discussing and applying an assessment rubric to actual examples of student work that exemplified extremes of standards of performance on the task (e.g. poor, excellent). WITH the same sense of exposition and immaculate timing of any denouement, the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), gathering all the suspects into the library, has named Melbourne its second City of Literature just days before the opening of the Melbourne Writers Festival. At the same time, the other City of Literature, Edinburgh, is in the middle of its festival, which has a strong writers’ component (Faqih & Jaradats, 2015).
9. Assessing Coping skills and health practices – The nursing job is identified as one of the most stressful jobs and it is characterized as “high intensity profession”. When exercising the nursing profession, role conflicts is often created both with other related professions and between themselves. Five main stressors affecting the level of satisfaction among nurses are identified such as: lack of communication, job requirements, professional development, problems with patients, and balance between personal and professional life. In addition, the persistent exposure to stressful events, such as death, pain, and grief can lead to reduced productivity and development of negative emotions (Faqih & Jaradats, 2015). Stress is known to cause emotional exhaustion in nurses and lead to negative feelings toward those in their care. Greek nurses experience burnout due to environmental or individual factors. Work environment factors encompass lack of staff, exhausting shifts, lack of autonomy and authority, numerous requirements from the patients and their relatives, lack of support from supervisors and colleagues, use of technology and, finally, frequent exposure to death. Among individual factors the personality of the worker, motives that led him choose his profession, expectations from his job and the way of perceiving and reacting to stressful situations are included (Berkman,  Kawachi & Glymour 2014).

Programmes that promote coping with normative stress, delivered to the whole population, have been considered to represent a promising direction for the prevention of social emotional difficulties. The Best of Coping: Developing Coping Skills Program (Frydenberg & Brandon,) was introduced in two school settings on four separate occasions. Evaluation of the results provides modest support for coping skills enhancement but provide a warning about the need for caution when implementing and evaluating the Programme. First, it appeared to have some opposing effects on males and females. Second, improvements in students’ coping responses were apparently related to the authenticity of implementation of the Programme (Bach et al.. 2015).

The findings are discussed with regard to the need to implement programmes through which we can teach adolescents coping responses, which include optimism and problem?solving skills, so that they may handle problems and stressors more effectively. Additionally, an important feature of such programmes is a focus on the reduction of the use of non?productive coping skills. With an increase in psycho?social problems, the need to provide school?based programmes is discussed, with emphasis placed on programme implementation. In particular, the probable need for ongoing involvement of psychologically trained school counsellors with teachers, through the life of the programme.

10. Assessing Development of children – Brimbank City Council is committed to improving the outcomes for all families and children by working in partnership with the community, service providers, schools, early years services and local Council will continue to develop, coordinate and advocate for safe and healthy environments, services activities and communities that nurture and support children to reach their full potential. Council strongly believes that, as their children’s first teachers, parents and primary carers need to be encouraged and supported to undertake this critical role.  Brimbank Children’s Plan 2015–2019 builds on the work that Council committed to in its first Municipal Early Years Plan, 2011–2014. The Plan outlines Council’s goals and objectives for the next four years.
11. This Plan is supported by

• A detailed Contextual Document, which provides the supported research evidence and data that underpin the directions;
• A Brimbank Status of Children Report that provides an overview of the health, wellbeing and educational indicators that will be monitored as local government’s role to undertake a key leadership role and work in partnership with local communities and other stakeholders to plan for their municipality

The development of plans for children aged 0–8 years (the early years), is outlined in an agreement between the Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) and the Victorian State Government.

Conclusion and recommendation

This series will describe the different approaches to assessing health needs, how to identify topics for health needs assessments, which practical approaches can be taken, and how the results can be used effectively to improve the health of local populations. It will give examples of needs assessment from primary care but will also cover the specific problems of needs assessment for hard to reach groups. Many of the techniques of community appraisals used in needs assessment originate from experience in developing countries, and some of the lessons from this experience will be described.

References

Bach, V., Berger, M., Helbig, T., & Finkbeiner, M. (2015). Measuring a product’s resource efficiency–a case study of smartphones. LCA, Tool for inno, 133.

Berkman, L. F., Kawachi, I., & Glymour, M. M. (Eds.). (2014). Social epidemiology. Oxford University Press.

Bowling, A. (2014). Research methods in health: investigating health and health services. McGraw-Hill Education (UK).

Faqih, K. M., & Jaradat, M. I. R. M. (2015). Assessing the moderating effect of gender differences and individualism-collectivism at individual-level on the adoption of mobile commerce technology: TAM3 perspective. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 22, 37-52.

Fernandes, D., Lynch Jr, J. G., & Netemeyer, R. G. (2014). Financial literacy, financial education, and downstream financial behaviors. Management Science, 60(8), 1861-1883.

Foster-Cohen, S. H., & van Bysterveldt, A. K. (2016). Assessing the communication development of children with language delay through parent multi-questionnaire reporting. Speech, Language and Hearing, 19(2), 79-86.

Gray, A. (2013). What could be the consequences of the Neighbourhood Residential Zone in Melbourne’s north and west?. Planning News, 39(11), 15.

Hays, P. A. (2016). Addressing cultural complexities in practice: Assessment, diagnosis, and therapy.

Levenson, J. S., & Socia, K. M. (2016). Adverse childhood experiences and arrest patterns in a sample of sexual offenders. Journal of interpersonal violence, 31(10), 1883-1911.

Mekala, G. D. (2014). Rehabilitation of Stony Creek: Valuation of the benefits of rehabilitation. Victoria University, Australia.

Prüss-Üstün, A. (2016). Preventing disease through healthy environments: a global assessment of the burden of disease from environmental risks. World Health Organization. Community Practice Portfolio – Brimbank City Council Health Assessment Example Paper