Background/context

1. Capacity building for NGOs to support people to make healthy choices and take an active role in maintaining good health and wellbeing

2. Background/context • Community engagement process – Taking the Pulse – to better understand factors that affect health and wellbeing • Gold Coast Health and Wellbeing Plan – a shared vision for improved health and wellbeing across the Gold Coast • Establishment of Health Promotion steering group • Scoping paper on evidence base for overweight/obesity prevention and local resources developed

3. Health Promotion steering group • Health Promotion steering group consists of local key stakeholders who have a strong focus on improving health and wellbeing of those most disadvantaged in our community • Scoping paper and initial concepts of key priorities presented to Health Promotion steering group for development and wider discussion • Several partner organisations on steering group identified as relevant for pilot initiatives

4. Scoping paper identified • Many scientifically supported activities are being provided at local, state or national level • Utilising existing opportunities and partnerships • A range of approaches are required:- • - Community-based interventions • - Settings-based approaches • - Practitioner level • Three key priorities identified and endorsed in the scoping paper were translated into project plans

5. Key Priorities • Capacity building – of social/community service staff (who have direct and frequent contact with socially disadvantaged people) to successfully make referrals to appropriate programs and services by: • increase staff confidence through skill development in motivational interviewing to discuss physical activity and healthy eating; • Create supportive social environments that promote discussion of health and wellbeing • increase staff (particularly community service providers) knowledge of chronic disease behavioural risk factors

6. Key Priorities • Capacity building – at the organisational level to support staff in making healthy choices and ‘walking the talk’ by: • Working with management to identify opportunities in the workplace for healthy options/alternatives • Linking the workplace in with national, state and local initiatives • Offering GCML supported initiatives (such as Eat It training and Walking Groups) as a starting place

7. Key Priorities • A coordinated walking strategy to increase accessibility to walking programs, prioritising areas or localities of needby:- • using existing mechanisms and relationships to effectively engage socially disadvantaged people, establishing walking groups through local health or community service providers • providing information and support to maximise opportunity for behaviour change, including building capacity of organisations to host walking groups; identifying and promoting walking routes; marketing strategies; data collection (qualitative and quantitative) to understand factors influencing sustainability of walking groups

8. Implementation of initiative • Working with Griffith and Bond Universities to develop an evaluation framework and implement evaluation for individual priority areas • Brief motivational interviewing training for 80 participants throughout May • Model for walking groups being developed in partnership with key stakeholders • Organisational capacity building in development and to commence from July

9. Partnerships involved in pilot • Kalwun • Blair Athol • Uniting Care Communities • Act for Kids • Wesley Mission Gold Coast • Job Centre Australia

10. Thank you!