Healthy Together Geelong is one of 12 prevention areas under the Victorian State Government’s Healthy Together Victoria initiative which is a $100m cluster randomised trial of a novel, ‘whole-of-system’ intervention which has as one of its aims to halt and reverse rising trends in childhood obesity. The trial is a world first, at scale attempt to apply and evaluate complexity and systems thinking approaches to primary prevention of chronic disease including childhood obesity and its determinants.
Healthy Together Geelong has been tasked with assisting 95% of the 180 long day care centres, kindergartens, primary and secondary schools to work through a State-wide Achievement Program to create healthy environments for learning. The Victorian Health Promotion Achievement Program is based on the WHO health promoting schools framework1. Participants receive guidelines, resources and ongoing support to help meet state-wide benchmarks for health promotion.
The WHO system building blocks2 of leadership, partnerships, financing, workforce development and information underpin the wider systems intervetion. This presentation focuses on approaches utilising the WHO system building blocks to deliver the Achievement Program at scale in a local government.
To date 79 or the 89 early learning centres and kindergartens; 36 of 65 primary schools and 10 of 25 secondary schools are registered. These involved settings cover over 50% of the 53,100 0-18 year olds in the City of Greater Geelong local government area.