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Tackling 'wicked' health promotion problems: a New Zealand case study

journal contribution
posted on 2013-03-01, 00:00 authored by L N Signal, M D Walton, C Ni Mhurchu, Ralph MaddisonRalph Maddison, S G Bowers, K N Carter, D Gorton, C Heta, T S Lanumata, C W McKerchar, D O'Dea, J Pearce
This paper reports on a complex environmental approach to addressing 'wicked' health promotion problems devised to inform policy for enhancing food security and physical activity among Māori, Pacific and low-income people in New Zealand. This multi-phase research utilized literature reviews, focus groups, stakeholder workshops and key informant interviews. Participants included members of affected communities, policy-makers and academics. Results suggest that food security and physical activity 'emerge' from complex systems. Key areas for intervention include availability of money within households; the cost of food; improvements in urban design and culturally specific physical activity programmes. Seventeen prioritized intervention areas were explored in-depth and recommendations for action identified. These include healthy food subsidies, increasing the statutory minimum wage rate and enhancing open space and connectivity in communities. This approach has moved away from seeking individual solutions to complex social problems. In doing so, it has enabled the mapping of the relevant systems and the identification of a range of interventions while taking account of the views of affected communities and the concerns of policy-makers. The complex environmental approach used in this research provides a method to identify how to intervene in complex systems that may be relevant to other 'wicked' health promotion problems.

History

Journal

Health promotion international

Volume

28

Issue

1

Pagination

84 - 94

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Location

Oxford, Eng.

ISSN

1460-2245

eISSN

1460-2245

Language

eng

Publication classification

C Journal article; C1.1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Copyright notice

2013, Oxford University Press