The ‘Waist’ Disposal Challenge is a community-based health intervention, led by community members called Champions, in Rotary clubs in Western Australia. Trained Champions proved to be an important resource for providing self-management education to people at risk of developing chronic conditions, particularly for those hard to reach and where there are difficulties recruiting trained health professionals. Reflecting on the impact of the program in their clubs, Champions reported overall health improvements at the personal, peer and community levels, enhanced awareness about health-related issues, improved health behaviour and enhanced community capacity.

This paper explores the efficacy of a rapid assessment and response approach for the development of physical activity and other non-communicable disease strategic health communication campaigns within developing country contexts. The methodology involves elicitation research including focus group discussions and semistructured interviews with program stakeholders and beneficiaries. Essential insights into the communication program design and implementation were identified, as well as ensuring stakeholder engagement in the resource-constrained settings of the Pacific

A convenience sample of 351 lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex people self-completed a survey to rank the importance of specific health issues. Overwhelmingly, mental health issues were identified at both an individual and a community level as the highest priority issues. The research provides insight and possible direction for working with this group who exhibit poorer health outcomes in several areas.

This manuscript describes the test–retest reliability and criterion validity of an adapted version of the Active Australia Survey (AAS; a national surveillance tool, similar to other national physical activity surveillance tools), and explores how these measurement properties are related to the level of activity being engaged in. We found that participants who engaged in more activity had more measurement error than less-active participants. These findings have broader implications for cross-sectional and intervention studies using the AAS and for how validity and reliability studies of self-report physical activity measures are conducted.

This paper presents the evaluation framework and methods for the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden program, a combined cooking and gardening program implemented in selectively funded primary schools across Australia. The usefulness of the study design and the respective methods are discussed. In doing so, the paper contributes to debate about appropriate and feasible evaluation approaches to meet the information needs of all stakeholders.

Community partnerships are necessary for the effective delivery of mental health promotion campaigns at a local level. During the pilot phase of the Act-Belong-Commit mental health promotion campaign, partnerships were formed with community organisations as a component of the broader campaign strategy. This partnership model was successful in creating mutually beneficial exchanges with collaborating organisations, which promoted their activities under the Act-Belong-Commit banner in exchange for resources, promotional opportunities and capacity building in event management and funding.

There are a number of synergies, parallels and shared interests that crime prevention and health promotion share. This paper explores their respective conceptual frameworks, systemic understandings and a shared population group (prisoners) to illustrate this intersection. We conclude that there is scope for far more collaboration to occur across these two fields.

Sustainability of practice is a central imperative in health promotion. Using a Delphi method with health promotion practitioners in Queensland, Australia, this study develops a consensus definition and features of sustainable practice in community-based health promotion. The definition highlights the importance of collaboration, health determinants and aspirations, processes and outcomes. The definition and features articulate the foundations of working effectively with local communities.

This paper reviews injury articles reported in Australian media. It describes how injury events are reported, describes the lack of reported preventive strategies and discusses how the public perception of the injury risk and the opportunities for health professionals can influence healthy public policy.

The aim of this study was to establish a standardised ‘after-school period’ definition for future studies of children’s after-school physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviours (SB). Children’s (n = 308; aged 8 years) objectively measured after-school light (LPA), moderate (MPA) and moderate-to-vigorous (MVPA) PA, SB and time sitting (SIT) were compared using three ‘after-school’ definitions (i.e. end of school to: (1) 6 pm; (2) dinner time; and (3) sunset) to determine the extent of variability depending on the definition used. There were no significant differences in estimates of the proportions of time children spent in SED, LPA, MPA, MVPA or SIT between the three after-school periods examined. Applying a standardised definition of end of school to 6 pm is therefore acceptable for defining children’s PA and SB during the after-school period.

Despite the widely publicised role of vegetables in the diet in supporting health, intakes in many countries are below recommended levels. The aim of this study was to describe female consumers’ perceptions about leafy green vegetables and identify consumption issues. The key barriers to consumption relate to time constraints, culinary skills and nutrition knowledge. Opportunities for health promotion activities for improving consumption may lie in advocating the use of easy-to-prepare vegetables like baby leafy green vegetables, which have a strong nutritional profile and can be used in a variety of cuisines.

Health promotion initiatives in local governments may be limited by the capacity, confidence and organisational culture to use best available evidence. This paper describes some of the current challenges and contextual factors as they are being experienced. There are opportunities for national and state governments, organisations representing local government (e.g. municipal associations) and research partners to provide targeted support to councils. This may assist in achieving effective health promotion at the community level.

Vision loss in Australian Indigenous communities can be largely prevented if appropriate eye care services are provided and accessed. Our extensive consultations across Australia identify opportunities to improve community and health provider awareness through eye health promotion. An improved awareness of eye care, service availability, and when and how to seek care, will contribute to closing the gap for vision.

In response to Arora et al.’s article ‘A qualitative evaluation of the view of Child and Family Health Nurses on the early childhood oral health education materials in New South Wales’, most state and territories now support early childhood oral health programs that link oral health professionals with general health professionals. Following literature reviews and discussion at a national workshop in 2009, there is also consensus on a set of 11 health messages for oral health that complement those for general health.