Prevention Works

The Australian Prevention Partnership Centre

Prevention Works is a series of conversations with some of our nation's top public health experts. Join host Gretchen Miller as she brings together policy makers and researchers to discuss new ways of addressing Australia’s greatest health challenge: preventing complex chronic health problems.

  1. 06/13/2023

    Why liveable cities are important for better health equity

    Dr Lucy Gunn discusses how the built environment can contribute to better health outcomes, and the importance of basing policies upon research evidence. A Senior Research Fellow at the Centre of Urban Research at RMIT University, Dr Lucy Gunn’s key interest is in understanding which urban environments are supportive of health and wellbeing outcomes. She is a lead co-investigator on a tool that allows people to understand the health impacts that come from replacing sedentary behaviour with more active behaviour. Dr Gunn defines liveable communities as having good access to shops, services, education, healthcare, cultural opportunities and employment by using public transport, walking and cycling. She also outlines other domains of liveability. Research shows that the built environment impacts the way people behave, which can contribute to better health and potentially reduce chronic disease. Because the built environment is difficult and expensive to build or to change, it is ideal if policies are based upon research evidence. This applies to both the new growth areas on the peripheries of cities as well as limiting growth by making use of existing infrastructure in the best possible way. The Importance of healthy liveable cities project brief explains the findings in simple English. Dr Gunn also discusses the importance of working within teams and across disciplines and skillsets to deliver better results.

    19 min
  2. 04/21/2023

    How a wellbeing economy approach can promote health equality for future generations

    In this episode, Dr Katherine Trebeck takes listeners into a deep conversation asking why our economy is not serving enough people and takes a hard look at the way our economic system operates through a public health lens. Katherine is a political economist, founder of the Wellbeing Economic Alliance, and describes herself as a freelance advocate for a more humane economy. Katherine casts a net of ideas around the distribution, or maldistribution, of wealth, resources, and power and how this impacts individuals, communities, and the planet, with a profound impact on health inequalities. Despite these flaws, there are opportunities for connection across areas that have traditionally been siloed and a move toward a wellbeing approach, one designed to deliver what people and the planet need. For example, improved levels of exercise and mental health have connections with improved liveability and public transport, and these arenas have co-benefits for us as humans living in the environment, so co-benefits for the environment as well. With a fascination for understanding the root causes of complex issues, Katherine compels audiences to look upstream and stay curious and attentive to the connections. She recommends channeling your inner three-year-old, asking but why, but why, why, and why, until we can get to the root cause, venturing beyond symptom-by-symptom, problem-by-problem, and crisis-to-crisis solutions.

    56 min

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Prevention Works is a series of conversations with some of our nation's top public health experts. Join host Gretchen Miller as she brings together policy makers and researchers to discuss new ways of addressing Australia’s greatest health challenge: preventing complex chronic health problems.