The Ottawa Charter - Strategies and Action Areas
Identify the three health promotion strategies outlined in the Ottawa Charter.
Advocate, Enable and Mediate.
Define health status.
Health status is the overall level of health of an individual or population at a particular time, measured using indicators such as life expectancy, mortality, morbidity and self-assessed health status.
Identify the five dimensions of health and wellbeing.
Physical, social, mental, emotional and spiritual health and wellbeing.
Define Medicare and identify who can access it
Medicare is Australia’s universal health insurance scheme, established in 1984. It helps eligible people access healthcare by subsidising a range of medical services. Eligibility generally includes Australian citizens, permanent residents and people covered by relevant reciprocal healthcare agreements.
Identify the purpose of the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating (AGHE).
The AGHE is a food-selection guide that helps Australians understand the types and proportions of foods that support a healthy, balanced diet. It promotes eating a variety of foods from the five food groups and drinking water.
List the five action areas of the Ottawa Charter.
Build Healthy Public Policy; Create Supportive Environments; Strengthen Community Action; Develop Personal Skills; Reorient Health Services.
Define life expectancy and identify one other measure or indicator that can be used to describe the health status of a population.
Life expectancy is the number of years a person can expect to live if current age-specific death rates remain the same. Another health status indicator is mortality, which measures deaths in a population; other valid examples include morbidity, incidence, prevalence, burden of disease or self-assessed health status.
Define biological, environmental and sociocultural factors of health, providing one example of each.
Biological factors are related to the body or inherited characteristics; for example, age, genetics or a pre-existing condition. Environmental factors relate to the surroundings in which a person lives, works or plays; for example, housing quality, air quality or access to parks. Sociocultural factors relate to social and cultural influences; for example, family, peers, cultural expectations or socioeconomic circumstances.
Identify two examples of out-of-hospital services that Medicare may subsidise and one example of a service or cost that Medicare generally does not cover.
Medicare may subsidise GP or specialist consultations, pathology tests, X-rays and optometry eye tests. It generally does not cover most routine dental care, ambulance services or most private hospital accommodation costs. Any two valid subsidised services and one valid non-covered service earn credit.
Describe two ways that following the AGHE can support healthy eating behaviours.
It shows the five food groups and the relative proportions in which foods should be eaten, helping people plan balanced meals. It also encourages variety and choosing foods from the core food groups, including vegetables and legumes/beans, fruit, grain foods (mostly wholegrain or high-fibre), lean meats and alternatives, and milk, yoghurt, cheese and alternatives. Water is encouraged as a drink. Accept other accurate features shown in the guide.
Describe the purpose of the Develop Personal Skills action area and provide one example of how it could promote health.
Develop Personal Skills involves giving people knowledge and skills that help them make informed choices and improve their health. For example, a school could teach students how to read food labels or plan balanced meals using the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating (AGHE).
Explain the difference between incidence and prevalence.
Incidence refers to the number or rate of new cases of a condition occurring in a population over a specified period. Prevalence refers to the total number or proportion of people who have the condition at a particular time or over a specified period, including existing cases.
Describe how a sociocultural factor, such as family or friends, could influence a young person’s health and wellbeing.
Family can influence a young person’s health by shaping food choices, activity habits, attitudes towards help-seeking and access to support. For example, a family that regularly prepares balanced meals and participates in physical activity may support healthy behaviours. Other responses may discuss peer influence, cultural expectations or socioeconomic circumstances.
Explain the difference between bulk-billing and a patient co-payment.
With bulk-billing, the healthcare provider accepts the Medicare benefit as full payment for the service and claims it directly from Medicare, so the patient has no out-of-pocket cost for that service. If the provider charges more than the Medicare benefit or schedule fee, the patient pays the difference as a co-payment or gap.
Explain how following the 24-hour movement guidelines could act as a protective factor for young Australians. Refer to physical activity, sedentary behaviour and/or sleep
The guidelines encourage a balance of physical activity, limited recreational screen time, reduced prolonged sitting and sufficient sleep. For young people aged 5–17, the guidance includes at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity each day, with vigorous and muscle- and bone-strengthening activities on at least three days each week; limiting recreational screen time to no more than two hours a day; and getting age-appropriate sleep. Following the guidelines can support physical and mental wellbeing and reduce risk factors associated with inactivity and insufficient sleep.
Apply the Create Supportive Environments action area to a school that introduces safe bike paths, shaded outdoor areas and access to drinking water. Explain how these changes could support students’ health and wellbeing.
The school could provide safe bike paths or bike storage to make active travel easier, and create shaded outdoor areas or accessible drinking-water stations so students can be active more comfortably. Other appropriate examples include maintaining sports courts or providing safe spaces for active play.
Analyse how the measures of years of life lost (YLL) and years lived with disability (YLD) contribute to understanding the burden of disease.
YLL measures the years of life lost due to premature death, while YLD measures time lived with illness, disease or disability, adjusted for its severity. Together they show both fatal and non-fatal health loss. A condition may create a high burden because it causes early deaths, long-term disability, or both. The combined measure is Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs), calculated as YLL + YLD.
Apply your understanding of the five dimensions of health and wellbeing to a 16-year-old student who breaks their leg and finds it difficult to participate in physical activity at school. Explain one possible effect on the student’s social health and one on their emotional health.
Social health: the student may find it harder to participate in team sports or social activities with friends and may feel left out. Emotional health: the student may feel frustrated, embarrassed or anxious about not being able to participate in an activity. Answers should connect each effect to the broken leg-related difficulty.
Analyse how Medicare, bulk-billing and the Medicare Safety Net can reduce financial barriers to accessing healthcare. Include one limitation of Medicare in your response.
Medicare subsidies reduce the amount eligible patients pay for many medical services. Bulk-billing removes the out-of-pocket cost for a bulk-billed service, which can make people more likely to seek care. The Medicare Safety Net provides additional assistance to eligible people or families once relevant out-of-pocket costs reach a threshold. These features can support earlier diagnosis and treatment and help protect population health. However, Medicare does not cover every service or necessarily pay the full cost of every appointment; most dental care, ambulance services and some allied health services may involve substantial costs, and waiting lists can still affect access.
Analyse how the AGHE and the Ottawa Charter could work together to encourage healthier eating among young Australians. Refer to at least one Ottawa Charter action area and explain the link.
The AGHE provides practical information about healthy food choices, while the Ottawa Charter strategies and action areas can help people use that information in everyday life. Develop Personal Skills could involve teaching students to plan balanced meals; Create Supportive Environments could include providing healthy canteen options and accessible drinking water; and Build Healthy Public Policy could support nutrition standards in schools. Advocate and Enable may help raise the importance of healthy eating and provide people with skills and resources. Together, these approaches can make healthy eating easier and may reduce dietary risk factors, supporting improvements in population health status. Effects depend on access, affordability, cultural relevance and whether people can act on the advice.
Evaluate the statement: “Health promotion is more effective when governments and communities work together.” Use examples from the Ottawa Charter to support your overall judgement.
Working together can make health promotion more effective because governments can provide funding, policies and infrastructure, while communities understand local needs and can help design and deliver initiatives. For example, a council could fund a safe walking path after consulting local residents and schools. This can make the initiative more relevant and accessible. However, collaboration may take time and can be limited by funding or disagreement. Overall, shared action is likely to be more effective when roles, resources and community needs are clearly considered.
Compare the value of life expectancy and burden of disease when assessing population health status. Explain what each measure can show and why using more than one measure can provide a broader picture.
Life expectancy estimates how long people can expect to live based on current death rates, so it mainly reflects mortality patterns. Burden of disease measures health loss from both premature death (YLL) and living with illness or disability (YLD). Both are useful because a population may have a high life expectancy but still experience substantial illness or disability. Using both gives a broader picture of population health.
Analyse how biological, environmental and sociocultural factors can interact to influence a young person’s health status. Use a relevant example to show the links between the factors.
Factors can work together rather than act independently. For example, a young person may have a biological predisposition to asthma, live in an environment with poor air quality, and have limited family resources or support to access treatment or suitable physical activity. These factors may combine to make symptom management and participation more difficult, affecting physical, social and emotional wellbeing. Other well-explained examples are acceptable.
Justify why it is important for Medicare to remain accessible to all Australians. Refer to access to healthcare services and the potential impact on population health status.
Medicare should remain accessible because it reduces financial barriers to essential healthcare and helps people access medical advice, testing and treatment regardless of their income. Subsidised GP visits, public hospital treatment and bulk-billing where available can encourage people to seek help earlier, potentially preventing conditions from becoming more serious. The Safety Net can further assist people with high out-of-pocket costs. Better access can improve health outcomes and indicators such as morbidity and self-assessed health status, and may contribute to longer life expectancy. Medicare does not cover every cost and access can still be affected by waiting times or service availability, but broad access supports a fairer and healthier population.
Discuss the statement: “The 24-hour movement guidelines and the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating can contribute to improved health status when supported by effective health promotion.” In your response, refer to health status indicators and at least two Ottawa Charter strategies or action areas, and consider a limitation or barrier
The AGHE encourages balanced eating across the five food groups, while the 24-hour movement guidelines recommend regular physical activity, limiting recreational screen time, breaking up sitting and getting sufficient sleep. These behaviours can act as protective factors and may reduce risk factors associated with poor diet, inactivity and inadequate sleep. Improvements could be reflected in indicators such as morbidity, self-assessed health status, life expectancy over time, or the burden of disease. The Ottawa Charter can support these behaviours through Develop Personal Skills, such as lessons about healthy eating and movement; Create Supportive Environments, such as safe places to be active and healthy school food options; and Build Healthy Public Policy, such as supportive school policies. Advocate and Enable can also be used to promote change and provide knowledge or resources. A barrier may be the cost or availability of healthy food, unsafe local environments, limited time, disability-related access needs or family circumstances. Overall, combining practical guidance with supportive environments and policies is more likely to help young people adopt and maintain healthy behaviours than information alone.