An analysis of local government health policy against state priorities and a social determinants framework

Abstract

Objective: Victorian local governments are required to develop Municipal Public Health and Wellbeing Plans that incorporate state-level health planning priorities and address the social determinants of health. This paper describes a novel method for evaluating councils' performance against these requirements. Methods: Deductive content analysis was used to categorise all actions in 14 local government MPHWPs against Victorian state priorities as well as against social determinants of health policy areas. Results: More than 1,000 actions were identified. However, fewer than half directly addressed a state priority, with many actions addressing policy areas known to be broader determinants of ..