Criteria for inclusion in the QIPPS Public Library

The criteria for inclusion in the QIPPS public library is based on the Ottawa Charter definition, which describes health promotion as:

...the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve, their health (WHO 1986).
Full details can be found at http://www.health.qld.gov.au/chipp/what_is/ottawa.asp

In practise the project must:

  1. Are all the appropriate fields adequately completed? There should be an evaluation plan with some evaluation results when projects have been implemented for over one year.
  2. Is it written in a way that someone else could understand it? Is the language accessible and appropriate?
  3. Has the lead organisation consented to the program being published in the Public library
  4. Are the program goals, objectives and strategies sufficiently clear? And do they relate to the needs assessment and program structure?
  5. 5. Is the project based on accepted health promotion principles? That is, does it:
    • Address the broader determinants of health
    • Base activities on the best available data and evidence
    • Act to reduce social inequities and injustice
    • Emphasise active consumer and community participation
    • Empower individuals and communities
    • Explicitly consider difference in gender and culture
    • Work in collaboration
  6. Does it include a mix of strategies or interventions that aim to impact on both individuals as well as populations? This generally means that activities and publications are broadly accessible to the target group(s), not just to people registered with the organisation

The rationale for this set of criteria is primarily based on the International Union for Health Promotion and Education in their publication "The Evidence of Health Promotion Effectiveness - Shaping Public Health in a New Europe, Assessing 20 years evidence of the health, social, economic and political impacts of health promotion and recommendations for action" 2000 pg 3

"Evidence clearly indicates that:

  • comprehensive approaches using all five Ottawa strategies are the most effective
  • certain settings, such as schools, workplaces, cities and local communities offer practical opportunities for effective health promotion
  • people, including those most affected by health issues need to be at the heart of health promotion action programmes and decision making processes to ensure real effectiveness
  • real access to education and information, in appropriate languages and styles, is vital
  • health promotion is a key 'investment' - an essential element of social and economic development"

The most common issues identified by reviewers are that submissions:

  • Have insufficiently explored the key contributing factors associated with an issue or problem;
  • Demonstrate insufficient links between the key contributing factors and objectives and insufficient links between the needs assessment and the choice of interventions,
  • Include strategies covering only one intervention type;
  • Do not include adequate detail for a reader who is unfamiliar with the project;
  • Include inadequate detail in the evaluation plan
  • When projects are evaluated, they include inadequate information about the impact of a project.