The Victorian Health Promotion Foundation, best known as VicHealth, works in partnership with organisations, communities and individuals to make health a central part of our daily lives.
The focus of our work is on promoting good health and preventing ill-health.
Today, we have a broader understanding of health than ever before. How much you earn, your social position, your level of literacy or your capacity to be involved in sport or creative activities that help connect you to others in your community are as important to determining your health and wellbeing as the medical care you receive when ill.
We also know that in the industrialised world, the greatest burden of disease is related to illness that can be prevented through lifestyle changes. In Australia, chronic diseases cause 80% of the total burden; and heart disease, stroke, diabetes, kidney disease and cancer all have poor nutrition and physical inactivity as important risk factors.
Promoting health by fostering change in social, economic, cultural and physical environments underpins our Mission. Of course, raising awareness is important to achieve change, both for individuals and the community. We aim to build opportunities for people to be informed, learn new skills, have greater access to activities that promote good health, and share healthier environments.
The principles guiding our strategic focus are consistent with the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) directions for health promotion set out in The Jakarta Declaration on Health Promotion, Leading Health Promotion into the 21st Century 1997, and the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion 1986.
|
