In this chapter the term health information means any information that can help increase people's understanding of health and health issues. Health information which is shared needs to be appropriate, accurate and well presented.
Sharing information is an exchange, a two way process. There are many ways to share different kinds of information. How you choose to do it will depend on the type of information, who is sharing it, with whom, why it is being shared, and the available resources.
| THS Policy on Information Sharing It is essential for THS staff to ensure information is shared with communities, learn from communities, and in partnership, plan and implement public health strategies to meet community identified priorities. Information flow must be two-way, and all interactions based on respect. Sharing information with people at community level enables them to discuss its implications for them, decide what they will do themselves, and what assistance they require from THS or other service providers. Contemporary health promotion strategies include sharing health information at the individual, family and community levels to establish a dialogue that explores and identifies priorities and achievable solutions. The purpose is to enable individuals and groups to take greater responsibility for, and control of, their own health and build problem solving and decision making capacity. The role of THS staff is to support communities to develop local solutions to local health problems. Territory Health Services 1998a:12 |
When considering the collection, use or sharing of information, you need to be aware of the Information Privacy Code of Conduct.
The Code is binding on all THS employees. It provides clear guidelines on what is acceptable and what is not in the collection, storage, access and use of information gathered for both operational and research purposes. The Code covers personally identifiable health information, data collection, staff records, and commercially sensitive information (THS 1997).
It is recommended that each community health centre has a copy of the Information Privacy Code of Conduct (1997) booklet available through the Stores Section.
Useful information from within the community may come from a variety of sources. It may come from community residents or specific community records such as:
Useful information from outside the community may come from a variety of sources such as:
These resources can be found in: