Appendix 1: Strategic Priorities and Guidance for Public Health Units
This Strategic Priorities and Guidance for Public Health Units (PHUs) is intended to provide strategic guidance to PHU service planning for 2017/18. It includes higher level strategic direction of focus/actions and, in some cases, the population targeted under each issues area. The information is gathered from Public Health Issues Leads and colleagues across the Ministry of Health (the Ministry).
Results Based Accountability™ Framework
PHUs are expected to align the activities in their 2017/18 PHU Annual Plans with the Results Based Accountability™ (RBA) approach. We have not shown the RBA alignment in this document because it is about guidance on strategic directions.
Core Functions approach
The core functions approach is now optional and therefore we have not shown core functions alignment in this document. PHUs can group and display the activities within their PHU Annual Plan according to what works best for them: whether in service lines, settings, core functions or their internal service structure groupings. Financial reporting will still be according to service lines.
How to use this guidance
Please use this information as appropriate. The Ministry is mindful that not all activities outlined in this document will be relevant or appropriate for your population of coverage and that you may be required to prioritise some activities over others to ensure that existing resources are used most efficiently and effectively.
What is important is for you to ensure your service delivery is aligned with the strategic priorities of the Government, the Ministry and your DHB(s), and that all regulatory requirements are fulfilled.
As the Strategic Priorities and Guidance for PHUs is intended as higher level strategic guidance to PHU service planning, not every activity that PHUs carry out on a daily basis is included in the document. For example, Communicable Diseases activities relating to surveillance are not considered here because it is core business-as-usual activity.
We start with Government targets, health targets then non communicable diseases and long-term conditions, followed by other issues areas (the latter in alphabetical order, and not in order of importance or its potential for integration).
The Government’s Strategic Priorities: Better Public Services Results Targets:http://www.ssc.govt.nz/bps-supporting-vulnerable-children
ISSUE DIRECTION/FOCUS / TARGET POPULATION
Reduce the number of assaults on children
Better Public Services Results Targets:
Halt the ten-year rise in children experiencing physical abuse and reduce the number of children experiencing substantiated physical abuse by over 1,000 on projected numbers by 2017.
PHU contribution:
Please focus on how your PHU might be able to contribute to the Better Public Service Priorities Result 4: reducing assaults on children.
Activities should focus on reducing risk factors for child abuse and neglect and on strengthening protective factors that contribute to healthy parenting, including promoting maximum enrolment in universal services.
Note: The Well Child Tamariki Ora Quality Improvement Framework[1] includes several coverage indicators, which will be reported against by DHBs every six monthly.
In July 2015, a new work programme of the Ministerial Group on Family Violence and Sexual Violence was launched to ensure government agencies respond better to family and sexual violence, through: stopping family violence from occurring, reducing the harm caused by family violence, and breaking the cycle of family violence (https://beehive.govt.nz/webfm_send/68).
PHUs can contribute to the Primary Prevention component of this work programme by using a health promotion model that addresses the determinants of health at the individual, family/whānau, community and societal levels. Activities should focus on reducing risk factors for family violence and sexual violence and on strengthening protective factors that contribute to healthy relationships, which may include:
o Support of primary prevention programmes, such as MSD-led It’s Not OK campaign and related projects (eg, White Ribbon Day, Te Rito Network activities, TLA partnerships, using It’s Not OK Community Action Toolkit), and healthy relationship programmes in schools.
o Support of the Violence Implementation Programme (VIP) in DHBs.
o Support of DHB VIP community collaboration and action that will achieve health equity.
o Support Whānau Ora service providers and Iwi to promote family violence prevention programmes and services that are responsive to Māori and are culturally competent.
For your general information:
The Ministry of Health’s Family Violence Assessment and Intervention Guidelines includes a section on supporting Pacific families. This section is aligned to the “Nga Vaka o Kāiga Tapu – which is a conceptual framework for addressing family violence in seven Pacific communities in New Zealand. The framework will assist PHU’s to inform process and service development to assist ethnic specific practitioners, and service providers and non-Pacific practitioners working with Pacific victims(s), perpetrator(s) and families affected by family violence. / Universal approach with a focus on priority
populations for your PHU region, Māori and Pacific people, migrants and refugees, disabled people, and youth.
ISSUE DIRECTION/FOCUS
Reduce long-term welfare dependence
Better Public Services Results Targets:
Policy work is underway to look at how Health can better contribute from July 2016 to reducing long-term welfare dependence. There is a focus on improving sexual and reproductive health promotion and individual sexual health services to reduce the number of unintended teenage pregnancies. PHU sexual health activities can contribute to efforts to reduce the number of unplanned teenage pregnancies.
For your general information:
Evidence shows that young people who are empowered to take charge of their sexual and reproductive health are less likely to have unintended pregnancies in adolescence.
PHU contribution:
Health promotion activities that support young people’s empowerment are encouraged. This may include :
· conducting a needs analysis to better understand the knowledge, attitudes, behaviours and service landscape
· encouraging collaborative work between clinical services and health promotion services, and supporting youth-friendly health service provision
· participating and/or encouraging NGO participation in the DHB Service Level Alliance Teams.
ISSUE DIRECTION/FOCUS
Rheumatic Fever
Better Public Services Results Targets:
To be confirmed.
Health Targets:
ISSUE DIRECTION/FOCUS / TARGET POPULATION
Increase immunisation rates
Health Target
· 95 percent of eight-month olds will have their primary course of immunisation (six weeks, three months and five months immunisation events) maintained until 2017.
DHB performance Measures
· 95 percent of two-year olds will be fully immunised for age.
· 95 percent of five-year-olds will be fully immunised for age.
· 75 percent of eligible girls will be fully immunised against HPV by 30 June 2018 (for the 2017/18 year this is the cohort of girls born in 2004).
· 75 percent of the eligible population (65 years and over) are immunised against influenza annually by 30 September 2018.
While increasing childhood immunisations is a priority, it is important that other publicly-funded immunisation programmes also achieve high coverage, for example, antenatal immunisation and the annual influenza programme.
PHU contribution:
· Continue to support your respective DHBs/PHOs towards achieving the current immunisation health targets and performance measures.
· Provide support as required to your respective DHBs/PHOs to implement the planned National Immunisation Schedule changes, including extension of the HPV immunisation programme to include boys/young men (from 1 January 2017) and introduction of a universal varicella vaccine dose at age 15 months (from 1 July 2017).
· Ensure the regulatory responsibilities of the Medical Officers of Health are carried out in accordance with the Medicines Regulations 1984, clause 44a. Your role, in terms of the support/advice you give to immunisation promotion, will be as agreed with your DHB(s) and Immunisation Steering Committees.
· With support from the Ministry, work towards eliminating measles in New Zealand.
Note: The Well Child Tamariki Ora Quality Improvement Framework[2] has one immunisation health indicator, which will be reported against by DHBs every six monthly. / Children and adults eligible for vaccines as recorded on the National Immunisation Schedule (including childhood vaccines, HPV, influenza vaccine, adult boosters [Td] and those eligible for high risk programmes).
Parents, guardians, whānau and community (including refugee and migrants) for promotion of immunisation campaigns.
Specific health provider groups (eg, Lead Maternity Carers, authorised vaccinators, Primary Care providers and vaccinators, BCG vaccinators).
Tobacco – refer to page 5 Long Term Conditions section
Long Term Conditions – Prevention, Identification and Management: guidance for DHBs and PHUs
Long term conditions are ongoing, long term or recurring conditions. The prevalence of long term conditions is increasing, causing premature mortality and morbidity, which is directly or indirectly linked with the underlying disease. Māori and Pacific people, people living in low socioeconomic circumstances, people with disabilities and people with mental health and addiction issues are disproportionately affected by some long term conditions, with a more significant impact from ill health and earlier mortality.
DHB prevention and treatment services need to adapt to meet this increasing burden of long term conditions, with consideration given to cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, chronic respiratory conditions, mental ill health and musculo-skeletal conditions. Focus needs to be placed on providing evidence-based services that are people-centred and closer to where people live, learn, work and play. Services should focus on wellness and prevention (for example, strategies to help make healthy choices easier), early identification, and integrating management and treatment in community-based services. This can both stop the occurrence, and slow the progression of many long term conditions. DHBs are expected to identify new activity to deal with this rising burden, and identified disparities, while also committing to continue current programmes to deal with the burden of long term conditions (eg, current Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Asthma programmes).
DHBs and PHUs should collaborate with their local PHO/s and other local partners (eg, Iwi, education providers, local government, government agencies, non-government organisations, and businesses) to develop appropriate actions for the prevention, identification and management of long term conditions to implement integrated programmes. The local partners/key stakeholders for each priority should include any groups that will be involved in the implementation of the specific plan.
Interventions/approaches known to work that must be considered and reflected as appropriate in the DHB approach follow:
· Population based and targeted prevention.
· Collaborative programmes that make healthy choices easier, and target higher risk populations.
· Workforce capacity and capability.
· IT solutions.
· Consumer and community co-design.
· Effective primary care and community/services closer to home.
· Self-management programmes.
Effective collaborative action and outcomes (as outlined in dot point two above) cross community and primary care organisations to maximise physical activity, good nutrition, quit smoking and reduction in the harmful use of alcohol (including demand reduction and control), and support for mental health promotion programmes. Where DHBs have reflected one of the above approaches this should be clearly identified within the Annual Plan, as DHB Annual Plans will be assessed against the reflection of the above dot points, particularly how joint participants bring different focuses from their areas of expertise (eg, physical activity).
Some key areas associated with long term conditions have recently been chosen by the Whānau Ora Partnership Group (comprising of representatives from the Iwi Chairs Forum and six Ministers representing the Crown) to highlight health sector activity to support Whānau Ora. These are part of a larger set of indicators. Health sector activity will need to focus on progress in five key areas that contribute to Whānau Ora – mental health (reduced rate of Māori committed to compulsory treatment relative to non-Māori), tobacco (better support for pregnant women to quit smoking), asthma (reduced asthma admission rates for Māori and Pacific children), oral health (Māori and Pacific 5 year old children who are caries free), and obesity (B4 School Check services). These have been chosen to achieve accelerated progress towards health equity for Māori and Pacific, and Whānau Ora in the next four years.
Further guidance on common risk factors
As the six conditions which make the largest contribution to morbidity and mortality due to long term conditions (cardiovascular diseases, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, diabetes, mental ill health and musculo-skeletal conditions) share four behavioural risk factors (tobacco use, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and harmful use of alcohol), some guidance for PHUs on the four risks factors are given below.
We start with Healthy Families NZ, then Tobacco, Nutrition and Physical Activity, Alcohol and Other Drugs and Mental Health:
ISSUE DIRECTION/FOCUS / TARGET POPULATIONHealthy Families NZ
For your general information:
· Healthy Families NZ is the Government’s flagship prevention platform – a key part of the Government’s wider approach to helping New Zealanders live healthy, active lives.
· Healthy Families NZ is focused on enabling families and communities to make good food choices, be physically active, smokefree, and reduce alcohol-related harm.
· Healthy Families NZ is a large-scale initiative that brings community leadership together in a united effort for better health. It aims to improve people’s health where they live, learn, work and play, in order to prevent chronic disease.
· Healthy Families NZ aims to build on existing action underway in the community to create an integrated, community-wide “prevention system” for good health.
· For further background information, please see: www.healthyfamilies.govt.nz
PHU contribution:
· DHBs and their PHUs have a key role to play in Healthy Families NZ. If you have a Healthy Families NZ community in your region, work strategically with the Lead Provider to support the initiative, including re-aligning your activities to where appropriate.
· Increase your focus on supporting settings-based health promotion. In particular, support action targeted towards workplaces, education settings, marae, sports clubs, and other key community settings.
· If there is a Healthy Families NZ community in your area, support Healthy Families NZ workforce and their Prevention Partnership networks in the planning, implementation and evaluation of strategic health promotion action.
· Where appropriate, support the professional development of the Healthy Families NZ workforce, and proactively share learnings from current and previous local health promotion activities. / Communities in the ten localities as follows:
· Far North District
· Waitakere Ward
· Manukau Ward
· Manurewa-Papakura Ward
· Rotorua District
· East Cape