IN THIS LESSON

For this objective, you will facilitate social change by working alongside communities to co-design and implement relevant to this community health promotion initiatives.

DESIGN PRINCIPLES

Creativity and design go hand in hand (Kim & Ryu, 2014), this is your opportunity to create health promotion initiatives that will improve the health of the identified population. In the health system a degree of creativity is required. To achieve this, you will engage with human-centered design, and systems-thinking with health frameworks, such as the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion. The design thinking process comprises five steps, emphasize, define, ideate, prototype and test.

CO-DESIGN

Design thinking is considered a unique method of problem-solving; it puts people at the centre of its focus (IDEO, n.d.). The aim is to highlight the health issue or problem in the rural geographical context, which you did in Objective 3. This information will provide you with a comprehensive insight and opportunity to understand the problem in more detail. This extensive insight will assist you in building empathetic relationships (empathize stage). This empathetic relationship uses the observations to assist in defining (define stage) the problem or health issue, come up with creative solutions (ideate stage) which is then developed into health promotion messages and resources (prototype stage) that are meaningful to the people they are being created for. These resources are then distributed and tested (test stage).

OTTOWA CHARTER

Focusing on solutions of the identified health/needs, you will engage with the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion which is a global charter for action (WHO, 1986). This Charter suggests advocating, mediating, and enabling as processes to assist community residents to increase their control over and improve their health. Ideas to promote health may include shaping legislation; promoting healthy public policy; and creating environments that are sustainable and support health while empowering communities to own and control health choices, reorientate health services, and provide personal and social development to work together and improve health status (Clendon & Munns, 2023). You will collaborate with your community stakeholders to create health promotion resources that will communicate your created health promotion message for the identified population. The following are some examples of health promotion resources ranging from promoting a dementia friendly village in Shropshire; improving the mental health of farmers, creating a guide for growing vegetables for indigenous populations, an alert to reduce domestic violence, improving dental care of children in the Pacific islands and improving the sustainability of a Department of Conservation island.

HEALTH PROMOTION INITIATIVES

Credit: Five steps of design thinking process. (Ross published with permission)

Credit: Sample of health promotion resources. Source Ross (published with permission)