Advocacy and Persuasion

Task – Develop (in class) presentation/speech about the chosen public health issue to present to the Australian Minister for Health, based on the following scenario:

You are a senior member of a public health research team investigating a particular public health issue, which you believe to be of high relevance to the current federal government. You have some interesting ideas about developing public health communication strategies to address this issue. However, as it is generally the case, funding is extremely scarce and you are in need of funding to design and implement your ideas. You have managed to set up face-to-face meeting with the Australian Minister for Health, to present your case and demonstrate why they should speak with their political colleagues to consider giving you funding.

Public health issue – Falls in the elderly people (Australia)

This is a group presentation; my part is to work on the points below,

· Public health issue

– Current situation

– Important and strategic information

– Brief summary/background on falls in elderly

– Falls can be prevented – therefore we need the funding to prevent falls

– Statistic/rate – injury/cases

– $$$ Cost to healthcare system…

Older people frequently fall. This is a serious public health problem, with a substantial impact on health and healthcare costs. Falls are one of the most common geriatric syndromes threatening the independence of older persons …begin from here if you wish

· Who is involved

– Who is affected e.g. elderly people aged 65 and above

– Who are the stakeholders e.g. Local Health districts/networks, Health professionals and groups, Non-government organisations, Patients/carers etc…

– Primary target audience – elderly people aged above 65 years ago who are affected or at risk to falls and had fall related injuries…

– Secondary target audience – staff working at community centres, local council and locations where the elderly are likely to visit. The secondary audience is targeted to ensure that they are educated to provide assistance to an elderly person who has experienced a fall

· What are the major health determinants and why? (3 major health determinates and explain)

Need to do some research, not sure what are the major health determinants in falls, examples,

– Individual Behavior – lack of knowledge, not aware, lack of exercise

– Social – environment, income

– Health services – lack of access to quality health care

ü The speech must be professional as we are presenting to the Minister of Health

ü We are asking for funding, so all points needs to be strong and persuasive

ü No introduction or conclusion needed

ü Max word count – 500 words

ü NO reference needed

Resources

Falls