Health Promotion: Creating Awareness on Chronic Diseases in Rural Australia

Running Head: HEALTH PROMOTION 1
HEALTH PROMOTION
Name
Institution Affiliation

HEALTH PROMOTION 2
Introduction
According to the World Health Organization`s Ottawa Charter(1996), health
promotion is the process of enabling people to have control over factors determining
health and hence improve their health status (Walker, Butler & Colagiuri, 2014).
Health promotion involves not only the promotion of healthy lifestyles but also
includes the creation of economic, social and environmental policies that support
good health. Health promotion initiative plays a huge role in both disease prevention
as well as enabling early intervention which helps patients to seek treatment.
This report discusses the health promotion initiative of promotion of creating
awareness on chronic diseases in rural Australia. The paper discusses the statistics
behind this health promotion initiative and justifies why creating awareness about the
chronic disease in rural Australia. The report prepares a plan for how the health
promotion initiative will be implemented. The report contains a budget for the health
promotion project with a justification. The paper also contains an evaluation plan.
This is important in helping to access the progress and effectiveness of the project.
Identification of the project and Justification
What the project discusses in this report is the promotion of a healthy lifestyle to
prevent chronic diseases in rural Australia. The health promotion project will be
carried out specifically among the indigenous communities. According to the
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare(AIHW), chronic diseases such as cancer,
cardiovascular disease, and diabetes represent about 82% of the burden of disease
(Pinidiyapathirage, O'Shannessy & Harte et al., 2018). The statistics also indicate that
chronic diseases account for more than 70% of Australia`s total expenditure on health.

HEALTH PROMOTION 3
Most of the chronic diseases are preventable by living healthy lifestyles. Data from
the Institute shows that tobacco accounts for 7.8% followed by blood pressure at 7.6%
and then obesity at 7.5% (Schneider, Whitehead and LoBiondo et al., 2012).
Australians living in rural areas have faced a greater risk of getting chronic
diseases as compared to people living in urban areas. For example, approximately
70% of the Aboriginal and Torres Islander people have poorer health compared to
other areas (Manderson & Smith-Morris et al. 2010). The community has a mortality
rate which is 3.2 times higher than non-indigenous people living in cities. According
to McMurray & Clendon, (2011), one in every five people living in outer regions
smoke on a daily basis. Statistics also indicate that at least three in every four people
in outer regions and remote areas do not exercise regularly. Statistics from AIHW also
indicate that in every two people living in rural areas, three people are overweight or
obese (Willis, Reynolds & Keleher, 2012). From the above statistics, it is therefore
important to carry out research and establish why the risk factors for chronic diseases
are higher among rural communities and especially among the Aboriginal and Torres
Island communities.
Short term objectives
To determine the causes of a high-risk factor for chronic diseases among the
Aboriginal and Torres Islander community.
To educate the local community on the importance of physical exercises and a
healthy diet in preventing chronic diseases.
To educate the community on the dangers of smoking and consuming alcohol and
how it increases the risk of chronic diseases.

HEALTH PROMOTION 4
Long term objectives
Build capacity within the community and the voluntary groups which will help in
promoting healthy living once the project is over
To reduce cases of chronic diseases within the community by 10% within two years.
Strategies for achieving the objectives
The initiative is aiming at determining the major factors that contribute to the
high-risk factor of chronic diseases among the Aboriginal and Torres Islander
community. The group will carry out a survey to access the crucial factors which
could be leading to the huge number of patients with chronic diseases. The survey
will determine the number of people who consume alcohol in the community. The
survey will also identify the eating habits and patterns of the Aboriginal and Torres
people and try to understand how diet could be contributing to the situation
(Hernandez, 2011).In addition to this, participants will be questioned on whether they
carry out physical exercises and how often this happens. The achieve the objective of
determining the factors for high-risk rate, the group will evaluate the health promotion
programs that have been carried out in the community in the past and the impact that
the programs had on the health of the local community.
The initiative will use voluntary organizations and social groups to encourage
people to engage in physical exercises. Exercising regularly is important in preventing
chronic diseases such as hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases (Smith,
2016). The groups will be organized into three categories. The first category will be
youth, then women category and men category. The program will build a gym facility