Download How to address the social determinants of health in your work: A

How to address the social determinants of health in your work: A practice resource for psychologists (DRAFT)
What are the social determinants of health?
They are the circumstances in which people are born, grow up, live, work and age, and the systems put in place to deal with illness. These circumstances are in
turn shaped by a wider set of forces: economics, social policies, and politics (WHO, 2014).
The social determinants of health include education, employment and working conditions, built environment, physical environment, housing, gender, culture,
ethnicity, safety, social connectedness, income, early childhood development, health and social services.
Why should psychologists adopt a social determinants of health approach?
“If it is not the job of health professionals working at the ‘coalface’ and seeing the results of long-standing often preventable disease, then whose responsibility
should it be?” (May, Carey & Curry, 2013).
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The number of people needing treatment far outweighs the supply of practitioners
The increasing numbers of people with mental and physical health problems are inequitably distributed across the population
Our health and wellbeing are influenced by far more than the individual choices we make
Psychologists have valuable knowledge and skills to work with individuals and groups to enhance their own health and advocate for the health of their
communities
Psychologists can do more than provide treatment or promote individual behaviour change
Psychologists have an ethical responsibility to uphold justice (APS Code of Ethics)
How can I work in ways that better align with a social determinants of health approach?
The APS is developing a resource to assist psychologists to work in ways that align with a social determinants of health approach. Seven areas of professional
practice have been identified in which practitioners are invited to reflect and build on what they currently do in their individual client work, as well as in relation
to their overall approach, collaborative activity, advocacy, training and ongoing professional development, workplace environment and research.
To provide feedback or for more information: http://www.psychology.org.au/public_interest/social-determinants/ or contact [email protected]
How to address the social determinants of health in your work: A practice resource for psychologists (DRAFT)
What
Why
How
Professional
Practice
Improving the scope of treatment
approaches leads to more
effective practice and better
client health and wellbeing
Promote a therapeutic relationship built on trust and effective communication to facilitate understanding of clients’ context
Promote integrated, multidisciplinary, person-centred approaches to care
Assist clients in accessing appropriate services to address financial, safety and social needs
Promote a therapeutic approach that values self-determination and empowers clients to participate actively in decisionmaking processes in all aspects of their lives
Recognise and appreciate a broad range of cultural perspectives and interpretations of psychological health and wellbeing
that may be relevant to specific client groups, and develop an understanding of how these may influence help-seeking,
therapeutic relationships, client engagement and service use
Consider pro-bono work or offer bulk-billing services for disadvantaged clients (to decrease financial burden)
Collaboration,
Consultation
and
Engagement
Contextualised
Approach
Greater communication and
better relationships can enhance
knowledge and understanding,
inform appropriate referrals and
increase service accessibility for
clients
Promote networking and collaboration within and across the profession and organisation, with the aim of creating long-term
professional relationships
Multi-pronged holistic
approaches have a greater
impact on health and reduce
inequity
Develop early intervention and prevention models (primary, secondary and tertiary) of mental health/illness that focus on
the most disadvantaged groups
Promote and engage with local communities – ‘Knowing your community’
Support existing initiatives and partnerships that have had positive outcomes and are known to be effective
Adopt a public health approach that makes connections with and can influence national policy and local strategies
Support initiatives aimed at minimising inequalities, eliminating unfair discrimination and reducing stigma
Training and
Education
Training and education can
empower the workforce to better
understand the broader issues that
affect people’s health, and to take
action and deliver better outcomes
for clients and communities
Advocate for training about social determinants of health (in undergraduate/postgraduate courses, as well as CPD
opportunities) to expand conceptualisations of health and wellbeing
Increase student and practitioner knowledge of information-gathering techniques that adopt a contextualised approach
Facilitate student placements and supervision in disadvantaged or underserved areas (e.g. Aboriginal community-controlled
health services, residential aged care facilities, rural communities)
Build capacity for a more diverse workforce
Workforce
and
Employment
Healthy workplaces cultivate
healthy workers
Provide employment opportunities, promote meaningful and autonomous work opportunities, and promote an equitable
and fair institutional culture
Provide ongoing opportunities for continuing professional development
Support and promote occupational health and safety policies that encompass work-life balance, worker self-care, and the
key principles underpinning a psychologically healthy workplace
Advocacy
Psychologists have a social
responsibility to advocate for a
particular cause or policy when
they see this impacts unfairly on
clients and communities
Act as an advocate for your client(s) and local community as appropriate (i.e., with their consent/collaboration)
Advocate for greater focus on social determinants of health in professional practice and education
Advocate for policy changes that address the social determinants to achieve better health outcomes
Support policy initiatives that increase access to psychological treatment by disadvantaged groups (e.g. Better Access to
Mental Health Care, ATAPS)
Research
Research can inform policy and
planning and raise
client/community/media/policymaker awareness
APS Code of Ethics: A.1.3. Psychologists assist their clients to address unfair discrimination or prejudice that is directed
against the clients
Gather aggregate level data to help organisations understand their local population and plan services and care
Conduct or facilitate research which promotes understanding of health determinants, as well as collaborative, participatory,
action-orientated research which incorporates dissemination and translation strategies
Support clients and target groups to have an active and informed role in research that affects them