Importance of Environmental Scanning in Population-Based Health Plan

Environmental scanning is a crucial tool for decision making in any organization. In population-based health plan, it helps to investigate external factors affecting the working strategy and incorporate the needs of the community. This article discusses the importance of environmental scanning in developing evidence-based policies and strategies for healthcare in Mid North Coast region. It also highlights the initiatives taken by health authorities and primary health networks to reduce disparities in health outcomes of aboriginal and non-aboriginal people.

1. Environmental scanning is an important tool which is used in retrieving as well as
organizing data, at the time of decision making process by any organization. The
scanning is used to investigate the external factors that can affect the working
strategy. In a population-based health plan it is important as it provides the knowledge
about current socio-economic, technological and political context of the region.
Health programs are generally geared to any specific communities and environmental
scanning thus help to incorporate the needs of that particular community (Brown et
al., 2016). Environmental scanning can help population-based health care by
developing some evidence-based policies to the researchers.
2. External environment- The Mid North Coast contains a wealth of natural resources
and features. The natural resources are the integral part of the economy of that region.
Whereas, some areas are subject to natural hazards which needs to be carefully
managed at the time of future development.
Internal environment- The population of the region is growing gradually every year
and the growth proportion is projected to grow to 20% by the end of 2031. The
average IRSD score of the region is 1000, and the aboriginals are ranked as the more
disadvantaged communities than average (Lock et al., 2017). Internal environment
also depicts the health status of the people. The increased population can become
barrier in the healthcare plan and strategies for this region.
3. The Local Health District has planned to develop many strategies for the
environmental scanning purpose. For the scanning of external environment, regional
and geographical data has been collected. In order to scan the internal environment of
Mid North Coast, the social and economical status of the residents and the
development rate of population have been measured (Mortimer et al., 2016).
Collection of data regarding the social health has been incorporated in the plan. Apart

from that, in the planning and development of environmental scan of that region, data
will be collected from the aboriginal people and the Torres Strait Islanders also about
their health and socio-economic status.
4. In order to develop the environmental scan of Mid North Coast, some health
authorities including the NSW Health Department has also taken some initiatives. In
collaboration with Breast Screen NSW, Cancer Institute NSW and ABS population
estimates, the breast cancer screening for the people of that region have been done in
order to collect data on their health status (Ward et al., 2015). In the process, the data
collected from the Mid North Coast was compared with the data collected for the
whole NSW. PHN North Coast is an Australian Government initiative which also
collected data regarding the age, population and employment of the aboriginal people
of that region for environmental scanning.
5. The data of ERP 2016 is relevant and it depicts the current and the projected
demographics for the Mid North Coast region is 48.80% male and 51.20% female so
it seems that number of females are higher than the number of males (Lock et al.,
2017). The data from the socio-economic status and lifestyle of the people can be the
relevant to the determinant of health for the residents of that region. The evidence of
disease and screening methods, employment opportunity can provide relevant data for
the burden of disease as well as morbidity and the mortality of the people of that
particular region.
6. The primary Health Networks will focus to reduce the disparities in the health
outcomes of the aboriginal and the non-aboriginal people of Mid North Coast.
Reviewing the procurement policies can help in providing relevant data related to this.
Environmental scanning can act as a public health tool (Brown et al., 2016). Data
from the predictive analysis will also be relevant. Understanding the needs of the

community, developing a conversation with the people of the community will reveal
the needs of the people which will help to set goals of healthcare strategies by the GP
and it will also help to manage some chronic disease (Ward et al., 2015).

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