The Health Issue
INSIGHT EDITION 20
Insight
Insight is VCOSS’s flagship magazine.
Each edition focuses on a specific area of social policy, and features research, ideas, analysis and commentary from leading thinkers and practitioners on social justice.
Good health is fundamental to leading a good life
Health is about more than just freedom from illness. Staying healthy means access to good affordable housing and active engagement in community life, without encountering physical or attitudinal barriers.
It means having enough money to put nutritious food on the table and heat your house to a comfortable temperature.
Sometimes health challenges, sickness and injury are unavoidable, so we need a responsive, affordable, safe and world-class health system in Victoria.
But our focus should be on keeping people well, by prioritising prevention, early intervention, resilience and community connectedness.
The big question that confronts us all is: how do we identify and set the preconditions to ensure everybody is able to stay healthy, recover quickly when they need to and thrive?
This question is particularly timely at the moment, amid a raft of changes including the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System.
In this edition of Insight, we focus on the determinants of health for different groups in different circumstances.
What unites all the articles is a focus on the systemic conditions that influence our health. These conditions can be changed, leading to more healthy people and communities.
- VCOSS members recieve a copy of the Insight magazine in the post, and can access all articles online.
- Some articles are free to access, below.
- Want full access to Insight? Please join VCOSS.