Overview

Welcome to the ANPHA Knowledge Hub, which is part of ANPHA’s knowledge brokering program work.

The vision for ANPHA’s online knowledge brokering work is to contribute to improving health promotion policy and practice through better use of evidence and collaboration.

ANPHA’s Knowledge Hub shares a range of information, from our knowledge brokering scoping work to key reports, resources and links.

We will continue to develop the Knowledge Hub as an authoritative source for prevention and health promotion information.

Background

The Australian National Preventive Health Agency Act 2010 gives ANPHA responsibilities in relation to the collection, analysis, interpretation and dissemination of information relating to preventive health, workforce capacity building and preventive research infrastructure.

In its 2011-2015 Strategic Plan, ANPHA has committed to establishing a national internet-based Knowledge Hub for prevention and health promotion information under Goal 3: Knowledge Management: Drive the development of dynamic knowledge systems that enable evidence-informed policy and practice and health promotion across Australia.

This goal is based on the Australian Government’s response to the National Preventative Health Taskforce, ‘Taking preventative action: a response to Australia: the healthiest country by 2020’, which established one of ANPHA’s roles as dissemination of good prevention and health promotion practice, requesting ANPHA to develop the most appropriate mechanism for sharing good practice nationally.

The National Preventative Health Taskforce recommended that ANPHA develop a 'web-based clearing house/register for organisational policies, plans and achievements in order to share good practice across the country.'

Top of page

Vision and Goals

The vision for ANPHA’s Knowledge Hub is to contribute to improving health promotion policy and practice through better use of evidence and collaboration.

The goals of ANPHA’s online knowledge brokering work are to:
  • improve access to a wide range of health promotion information and evidence for people working with, or for, populations
  • improve access to relevant tools for anyone undertaking health promotion efforts for people working with, or for, populations
  • improve approaches to, and use of, evaluation in health promotion activities
  • increase workforce capabilities with regard to health promotion
  • improve collaboration among the health promotion policy and practice communities
  • facilitate or assist in the development and dissemination of new thinking and new approaches in health promotion.

Top of page

Focus of ANPHA’s Knowledge Hub

ANPHA’s Knowledge Hub shares prevention and health promotion information, with a focus on populations and the determinants of health. The 1986 World Health Organization Ottawa Charter defined health promotion as "the process of enabling people to increase control over the determinants of health and thereby improve their health." This definition is also used by the Australian Health Promotion Association.

"Population health is distinct from clinical interventions in that it places emphasis on whole populations and takes actions that will change collective health." (Baum, F. 2002, The New Public Health, 2nd edition, p.531)

Other definitions of health promotion terms can be found at:
Top of page

Developing ANPHA’s Knowledge Hub

ANPHA does not want the Knowledge Hub to duplicate what already exists in the prevention and health promotion field. We will develop the site and upload new information progressively.

Top of page

Scoping Phase

The Scoping Phase was completed in 2011 and included:
The implementation phase is commencing in 2012 and will take place progressively, beginning with:
  • A database of health promotion websites which align with the goals of ANPHA's knowledge brokering work.
  • A User Feedback Survey to assist us to continually improve the database's relevance, usability and accessibility.

Top of page

Mapping Exercise

ANPHA conducted a mapping exercise from May to June 2011 to identify existing websites and to identifiy good examples of online clearing houses, registers and gateways that may provide potential models for ANPHA’s Knowledge Hub. The mapping exercise helped define goals for the knowledge brokering work and resulted in the development of the Health Promotion Websites Database.

Top of page

Online Health Promotion Resources Survey

An online survey was conducted in July 2011 to determine un-met Australian health promotion needs for online resources. It provided an opportunity to understand and explore the online resources used by key stakeholders and increased the number of websites listed within the Health Promotion Websites Database.

The survey yielded 585 responses and confirmed that a great number of resources exist online for population-focused health promotion. The findings supported ANPHA’s focus on sharing of evidence and other aspects of knowledge translation, rather than creating new resources.

The resulting Online Health Promotion Resources Survey Report can be viewed and downloaded here

Top of page

Scoping Report

The scoping report outlines the context, methods and findings of the Knowledge Hub scoping phase. It provides an overview of the types of online resources currently available for population-focused health promotion in Australia and highlights some key gaps. The report also looks at some leading examples of websites outside Australia, as potential models for ANPHA’s knowledge brokering work.

The Scoping Report can be viewed and downloaded here.
Top of page

Health Promotion Websites Database

The mapping exercise and online survey informed the development of the Health Promotion Websites Database, which contains selected health promotion websites that align with the goals of ANPHA’s knowledge brokering work.

Email your comments or queries on the ANPHA Knowledge Hub to: knowledgehub@anpha.gov.au

Page currency, Latest update: 31 January, 2012