In Australia, the social gradient of chronic disease has never been as prominent as in current times, and the uptake of preventive health messages appears to be lower in discrete population groups. ...In efforts to re-frame health promotion from addressing behavior change to empowerment, we engaged community groups in disadvantaged neighborhoods to translate published preventive guidelines into easy-to-understand messages for the general population.
Our research team established partnerships with older aged community groups located in disadvantaged neighborhoods, determined by cross-referencing addresses with the Australian Bureau of Statistics, to translate guidelines regarding osteoporosis prevention.
We developed an oversized jigsaw puzzle that we used to translate recommended osteoporosis prevention guidelines.
Successful participatory partnerships between researchers, health promotion professionals, and community groups in disadvantaged neighborhoods build capacity in researchers to undertake future participatory processes; they also make the best use of expert knowledge held by specific communities.
The social gradient of health and mortality is well-documented. However, data are scarce regarding whether differences in mortality are observed across socio-economic status (SES) measured at the ...small area-level. We investigated associations between area-level SES and all-cause mortality in Australian women aged ≥20years.
We examined SES, obesity, hypertension, lifestyle behaviors and all-cause mortality within 10years post-baseline (1994), for 1494 randomly-selected women. Participants' residential addresses were matched to Australian Bureau of Statistics Census data to identify area-level SES, and deaths were ascertained from the Australian National Deaths Index. Logistic regression models were adjusted for age, and subsequent adjustments made for measures of weight status and lifestyle behaviors.
We observed 243 (16.3%) deaths within 10years post-baseline. Females in SES quintiles 2–4 (less disadvantaged) had lower odds of mortality (0.49–0.59) compared to SES quintile 1 (most disadvantaged) under the best model, after adjusting for age, smoking status and low mobility.
Compared to the lowest SES quintile (most disadvantaged), females in quintiles 2 to 5 (less disadvantaged) had significantly lower odds ratio of all-cause mortality within 10years. Associations between extreme social disadvantage and mortality warrant further attention from research, public health and policy arenas.
•We investigated associations between SES and all-cause mortality in Australian women.•The odds of disadvantaged women dying within 10years were twice that of less disadvantaged women.•There was an association between SES and all-cause mortality independent of advancing age, smoking status and low mobility.•Public health attention is warranted due to socioeconomic differences in risk of mortality.
The names of the co-authors Steven Graves and Michelle Lorimer were missing from the manuscript supplied for publication. The lead authors regret this error and apologize for any inconvenience.
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