Since February 2017, Healthy Communities has been working with our partners to inspire, support and evaluate community initiated preventive health innovations on the Mid North Coast. Our key areas of focus have been the development and implementation of a regional action plan to prevent and manage childhood obesity, and a small grants scheme.
Mid North Coast Childhood Obesity Prevention and Management Action Plan (Regional Action Plan) 2018 – 2023
We held the Mid North Coast Regional Obesity Summit: Children and Young People held in November 2017, the Summit brought together a range of key agencies to help draft a regional action plan to childhood obesity. In June 2018, the Mid North Coast Childhood Obesity Prevention and Management Action Plan (Regional Action Plan) 2018 – 2023 was launched. The Regional Action Plan coordinated cross-agency collaborative actions toward the reduction of childhood obesity on the Mid North Coast and was endorsed by 17 external agencies. June 2023 saw the completion of the Regional Action Plan and we are currently evaluating the outcomes and achievements across the five-year span.
Healthy Communities Innovation Fund (Innovation Fund)
The Healthy Communities Innovation Fund (Innovation Fund) initiative demonstrates a successful model of direct consumer engagement that values the expertise of consumers in line with co-design principles. The Innovation Fund delivers health care differently, in a way that supports the belief that communities bring expertise and actively builds capacity for preventive health amongst communities. Three rounds of the Innovation Fund have previously been released, focusing on healthy eating, physical activity, youth health, healthy ageing, and Aboriginal health.