Health Promotion
The Health Promotion team helps prevent chronic disease and injury among the population in the North Metropolitan Health Service (NMHS) region. Chronic diseases are health conditions that can have a number of contributing factors, develop gradually, and have long-lasting effects, such as cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes and a range of cancers.
These chronic diseases share five common modifiable risk factors:
- Overweight and obesity
- Poor diet
- Physical inactivity
- Smoking
- Harmful alcohol use.
Small changes in these risk factors across the population can result in significant health gains.
Our approach
We partner with community and local organisations to develop evidence-based interventions, practices and policies that support healthy behaviours. Our priorities are:
- Curbing the rise in overweight and obesity
- Increasing healthy eating
- Increasing physical activity and reducing sedentary behaviour
- Reducing smoking rates and exposure to tobacco smoke
- Reducing harmful levels of alcohol use
- Preventing injury and promoting safer communities.
Our focus is to create population-level changes that will keep the well population well. High priority groups include those with a higher risk of developing chronic diseases or experiencing injury, such as Aboriginal people, people with mental health issues and seniors.
Our work is guided by the Department of Health’s Western Australian Health Promotion Strategic Framework 2017-2021 (external site).
- Smoke Free NMHS – we help create service-level changes to support patients and staff who smoke to quit or reduce their smoking. From 27 August 2019, Mental Health Services across NMHS, including Graylands Hospital, became totally smoke-free. This made NMHS the first Health Service Provider in WA to become totally smoke-free.
For more information refer to the Smoke Free Mental Health Project: Summary Report (PDF) and Infographic (PDF).
- Healthy Options NMHS – we support food outlets at all NMHS hospitals to provide healthy food and drink options (external site) for staff and visitors. The hospitals in NMHS include:
- Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital
- Osborne Park Hospital
- King Edward Memorial Hospital
- Graylands Hospital
- Health Promoting Local Governments – we assist local governments to develop their Local Public Health Plans (external site) and create health promoting practices and policies.We host network meetings with officers from local governments in our region, including:
- Cities of Joondalup, Nedlands, Stirling, Subiaco, Vincent and Wanneroo
- Towns of Cambridge, Claremont, Cottesloe and Mosman Park
- Shire of Peppermint Grove.
We also collaborate with other agencies working with local government to support healthy behaviours in the community, such as the Department of Transport on their Your Move Stirling (external site) program.
- Social Inclusion Mirrabooka – we bring together local groups and agencies to identify and address local health and social priorities.For example:
- We worked with Sudbury House (external site) to set up With One Voice Mirrabooka (external site), an all-abilities choir that’s open to all members of the community. The choir meets weekly to sing, have a healthy supper and take part in the Wish Programwhere people can request a wish and/or grant a wish to others (from help with a job application to help with gardening). Established with funding from Creativity Australia.
- Health Literacy for New Migrants – we train and support local educators working with new migrants to incorporate healthy lifestyle advice into their programs.
- Ironbark Falls Prevention Program – we coordinate a weekly exercise class and healthy yarning session for Aboriginal seniors in partnership with Curtin University and Wadjak Northside Aboriginal Community Group. Support is provided by City of Stirling and the program is funded by Healthway.
- Blender Bike (PDF) – we loan our Blender Bike to local community groups to use as a healthy activity at community events.
- More Deadly Tucker (PDF) – we sell copies of the popular “More Deadly Tucker Cookbook” which has lots of healthy tips and 40 tasty recipes with step-by-step instructions.