Australian Health Inequities Program
Summary
The Australian Health Inequities Program is an NHMRC-funded capacity building project addressing social and economic determinants of health.
The project has a $2.4 million budget over five years and has two main aims. First, to build capacity in multidisciplinary population health work by increasing understanding of the complex social, economic and environmental factors contributing to health inequities. Second, to improve policy, program and practice designed to reduce these inequities.
The team assembled for the project have backgrounds in mainstream geography, housing and labour market economics as well as considerable experience in public health research. The Melbourne based team, headed by Prof Anne Kavanagh (KCHWS, School of Population Health, University of Melbourne) brings expertise in social epidemiology, research methods and multilevel models. The Adelaide-based members comprise three teams. The first, headed by Professor Fran Baum (Flinders University) brings expertise in public health policy analysis and engagement, qualitative research and social capital. The second, headed by Professor Andrew Beer (Flinders University) brings expertise in housing, policy analysis and regional development. The third, headed by Professor Sue Richardson (Flinders University) brings expertise in labour market, concepts and measures of inequality and econometric analysis of large data sets.
The program will comprise a series of research initiatives that progressively become more integrated over the life of the program. The focus of research will be on urban and regional communities where there are large discrepancies in health. The types of projects undertaken within the program vary. For example, planned projects include:
- Analyses of the relationship between social capital and health using existing population based databases in Tasmania, Victoria and South Australia;
- Case studies of regional areas undergoing rapid economic change;
- Exploration of the links between housing and health for rural and urban indigenous people; and
- A longitudinal study of the relationship between location, housing, labour market experience and health.
International collaborations are an important aspect of the program. Cross national studies comparing interactions of social capital, location, housing and labour market factors will be undertaken with international collaborators in the USA, Canada, Africa and Northern Ireland.
AHIP will place considerable emphasis on the translation of research findings to policies and interventions and on improving the knowledge used to inform these. It is intended that our approach, theories, methodologies, and findings, will be transferable to other settings, adding significantly to the field of health inequalities research. The AHIP researchers are building close working relationships with the South Australian Department of Health and Department of Human Services and VicHealth in Victoria to improve policy responses to health inequities.
A more detailed account of AHIP can be found in UniNews and at the AHIP website
Key Centre staff working on AHIP
Newsletters
AHIP Newsletter 1 November 2005 [PDF 270KB]
AHIP Newsletter August 2006 [PDF 230KB]
AHIP Newsletter May 2007 [PDF 286KB]
AHIP Newsletter December 2007 [ 193KB]
AHIP links
Department of Public Health, Flinders University
Area disadvantage, employment and men’s and women’s health
Improving local areas to increase physical activity and healthy food choices
A methodological review of multilevel studies of health and place
The Victorian Lifestyle and Neigbourhood Environment Study (VicLANES)