Environment & health
Providing good data to make great decisions
Our Evidence Review Service conducted a global snapshot of successful government responses to public health challenges to understand their success factors. This review was funded by the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth) and contributed to a global effort to help governments around the world optimise impact of their public health efforts. We shared these findings in the publication BMJ Global Health.
Building on success
With two demonstration sites showcasing infrastructure in-situ in Makassar, Indonesia, and Suva, Fiji, our Revitalising Informal Settlements and their Environments (RISE) program showed visible progress in 2023. Construction of water and sanitation infrastructure continued in the first tranche of informal settlements in both countries, and is set for completion in 2024. This is the exciting result of five years of collaboration and planning with communities and local authorities, as well as support from our academic and NGO partners, and funders.
Sustainable health systems
This year, we developed the Transitions to Sustainable Healthcare program, and commenced the establishment of a consortia of health sector leaders to help Australian health systems to become more environmentally sustainable and resilient. We provided a workshop on behaviour change for healthcare sustainability at the Climate And Health Alliance’s Greening the Healthcare Sector Forum.
In its second year and growing, our Sustainable Healthcare in Practice microcredential provided 70 healthcare professionals from all over Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, Brazil and Germany with skills and knowledge to influence the healthcare system towards sustainable healthcare in practice.
Planetary health policy and practice
Wellbeing is the ultimate goal of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) – for people and the planet to flourish. At a MSDI and Centre for Policy Development roundtable, the outgoing inaugural Future Generations Commissioner for Wales, Sophie Howe, highlighted how a wellbeing approach can shape policy for future generations’ benefit. Inspired by the Welsh model, MSDI is fostering discussions on embedding a sustainable wellbeing approach within Australian policy-making and across economic sectors, while cultivating strategic partnerships to promote its widespread adoption.
MSDI participated in several consultations to inform the Department of Health and Aged Care’s National Health and Climate Strategy, which was published in December 2023. We also contributed to a workshop on planetary health and global health with the Australian Global Health Alliance, and provided thought leading pieces on fossil fuel exports and health and medical ethics and climate change in leading health publications.
Healthy behaviours save lives
BehaviourWorks Australia worked with Monash’s Centre to Impact Antimicrobial Resistance to identify four community behaviours which are most likely to be adopted and have the most impact in controlling antimicrobial resistance, because when the drugs no longer work, we won’t even be able to manage simple infections. Our study shows that we can all play a role from individuals, to the agricultural and retail industry, and to drug disposal systems.
BehaviourWorks Australia also collaborated with the Neuromedicines Discovery Centre to study the attitudes to using psychedelic drugs to treat mental health issues, finding that there is cautious optimism in both the healthcare sector and the community which suggests that further education may build confidence in this innovative mental health treatment.
With the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, BehaviourWorks Australia developed an evidence-based, online interactive training module to enhance healthcare professionals’ communication and collaboration skills to escalate care in maternity settings. So far, over 3,000 practitioners have completed the training with the aim of creating better health outcomes for women and their babies.
BehaviourWorks Australia partnered with Austin Health, AQA, and the Victorian Transport Accident Commission to empower young men living with spinal cord injury in making better decisions about their health and lifestyles. The project’s activities were based on a social care model that puts the patient at the heart of their care to achieve better physical and mental health outcomes. The Austin hospital is currently working with AQA Victoria to investigate how interventions that support new skill acquisition for patients can be embedded into everyday practice.
The Australian Alliance for Animals commissioned BehaviourWorks Australia to survey the communities’ understanding and appetite for systemic change for animal rights, including farmed and wild animal welfare. Overwhelmingly, Australians agree that animal welfare should be protected by the government through legislation and the Alliance has used our findings in public events and private meetings with policy decision-makers to pursue these changes.
