To reach specific populations and groups cheaply and easily, a 'settings approach' can be used. Some of these settings for working with groups of people are workplaces, schools, health centres, prisons and hospitals. The policies of these places often influence the lives of community members, beyond the particular setting.
Some examples of organisational interventions to improve health include:
The following example shows the result of two government departments, Education and Health, jointly working together to promote healthy food choices in schools.
| School Canteens and Tuck Shops NT School Canteen Guidelines provides up-to-date information about the role of the canteen, developing a school canteen policy, checklists for evaluating canteen functions, hygiene and nutrition. This information assists those involved with operating canteens. The guidelines provide a positive message about healthy eating for children and adolescents. Tummy Rumbles was written specifically for remote area canteens and covers such areas as availability of food, old and new ways with foods, facilities, menus, preparation and storage of food, hygiene and nutrition. The booklets are available from the NT School Canteens Association. From Territory Health Services, 1997, 'Food & Nutrition Update', Issue 3:1 |
The use of incentives and disincentives is another strategy that can be used in health promotion. An example of this strategy is making the cost of health insurance lower for those people who do not smoke. Another example below shows making the cost of health promoting products lower and health damaging ones higher.
Incentive |
Disincentive |
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The following is an example of the use of this type of economic intervention.
| A Food and Nutrition Policy Over a number of months the managers of the ALPA [Arnhem Land Progress Association] stores, with the help of dietitians from Territory Health Services and researchers from the Menzies School of Health Research (MSHR) in Darwin, developed a food and nutrition policy for stores. The idea was to increase the variety of healthy foods available in ALPA stores, and to encourage people to buy and eat more of these foods…The price of cigarettes was increased by 30 cents to provide money to pay for the freight of fruit and vegetables to the communities. At first, half the freight was paid for on the fruit and vegetables to make them cheaper for people to buy. This is called a subsidy. After six months all the freight on fruit and vegetables was subsidised… In Bear-Wingfield 1996:48 |