The Public Health WWW Networking Project 1997-2000

Pauline Proud, April 2000
(www.publichealth.org.nz)

The Public Health World Wide Web Networking Project is funded by the Health Funding Authority and run by the Alcohol and Public Health Research Unit at Auckland University. The project is designed to assist sectors within public health and health promotion to develop cooperative strategies for effectively using the World Wide Web for public health and health promotion. The site address is: http://www.publichealth.org.nz/

Goals

• To improve co-ordination, mutual collaboration, and communication within public health programme areas and between public health providers.
• To optimise the use of electronic networking by the public health sector.
• To increase access to, and use of, relevant and accurate research and information to assist public health initiatives throughout New Zealand.

Usage of the World Wide Web is increasing dramatically, it is presumed that most health promotion organisations will be using the Internet in the near future. Given this emerging environment, this project is focused on facilitating web activity in health promotion priority areas.

The Project Web Site

Discussion is promoted on the web site about any issues in public health world wide web networking and anyone with an interest in the area is most welcome to contribute to this discussion.

The site also contains information and links to information about setting up world wide web sites.

Health Promotion web sites are linked to the site.

The project database is on the site, and the project activities are regularly updated. This is to model how web sites can be used to report back to communities of interest and for accountability purposes.

Personnel

• Professor Sally Casswell, Alcohol and Public Health Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Auckland
• Pauline Proud (facilitation and training) Auckland
• Paul Duignan (strategy), Navigate Ltd (formerly McCann Lane Ltd), Wellington

Project Activities

• Project commenced January 1997. Two flyers regarding the project distributed through 7 different newsletters in the public health area and RHA contractors list, informing about the project and calling for input.
• Presentations about the project at seminars.
• Project World Wide Web Site established (http://www.publichealth.org.nz/)
• Involvement in conferences - Public Health Association July 1997, Health Promotion Forum November 1997, and Public Health Association July 1998 and Health Promotion Forum 1999.
• Extensive networking with grass-roots public health organisations and some major providers (80-90% in health promotion field, 10% in health protection)
• Raising awareness in public health organisations of strategic opportunities and direction in using the World Wide Web. Participation in the project (updated 31.12.99): 1147 individuals have participated, through coaching, presentations and consultations. Over 200 organisations have been involved in this.
• Presentations have been made to Universities: Pumanawa Hauora (Massey) Christchurch Medical School, Otago Medical School, public health, Wellington Medical School, public health.
• Advice has been provided to organisations thinking of developing a web site (66)
• Formative Evaluation support has been provided to those undertaking web site development (16)
• Feedback and process evaluation advice has been provided to existing web sites (6)
• Participants are recorded by groups: Injury Prevention, Sexual Health, Nutrition and Exercise, Tobacco, Alcohol and other Drugs, Mental Health. Maori and Pacific Island providers are also identified.
• Of 219 teams and groups which have requested coaching and consultation, 23 now have their own web sites, another 22 teams are using Intranets and 6 groups have their information/functions hosted by colleague’s web sites.
• Six Strategy Workshops have been provided to explore future direction and
• collaboration emerging amongst those organisations using web sites to enhance their practice. These have been held in Auckland, Whangarei, Wellington and Napier. The sexual health sector had a strategy workshop in Wellington in October last year, and the Nutrition and Physical Exercise sector had strategy workshop in February 2000.
• Resources for Site have been developed and placed on web site. Web beginners questions and answers, Quality Standards for Web Sites, Pre-testing Web Sites, Draft Site Performance Standards.
• A feature article has been published in the March 1999 Health Promotion Forum Newsletter

Background

The project began in 1997 with a consultation process. Around 80 responses, showed that 14 groups/individuals were already actively using the WWW and the rest were keen to know more.

Health sectors were identified by the Regional Health Authority (Transitional) at the time: Others were added and this became a framework for reporting on emergent leadership relevant to developing the use of WWW within the sectors.

The community development perspective led us to assume the project would play a temporary role rather than set up an institution with an ongoing helping role. It is envisaged that leaders will emerge with vision and credibility in their field, using interactive web sites to network, collaborate and share information.

The first objectives were to establish a web site to demonstrate the usefulness of the WWW and encourage discussion and strategy, and to take free training out to small and large providers, public health promotion and protection, and community health promotion providers, within their workplace.

The first year the project undertook to work with 100 individuals, and actually provided this support for 300. Demand has grown over the 3 years and now there are over 1140 people (from 219 organisations) who have taken part in coaching, presentations and consultations.

In addition to the basic training, the project provides encouragement and advice on development of web sites for health promotion agencies, and arranges workshops for sectors to begin to collaborate strategically to make the most of current and future developments on the WWW.

The Current Situation

What is happening in respect of collaboration?

• Organisations are using each others’ web sites to host their own. E.g. NZ Health Online has had a rapid growth in support groups with a single page on their site. Organisations are hosting information about colleagues e.g. Christchurch Health Promotion hosts information re Matauranga Hauora, Family Planning does the same for Te Puawai Tapu, NZDF hosts a whole range of fact sheets for Alcohol Healthwatch (http://www.nzdf.org.nz) and The Health Promotion Forum has the capacity to "rent out" discussion forums for other health promotion groups (http://www.hpforum.org.nz)
• (Interagency) coalitions are using collective sites hosted by other organisations for discussion, strategy development and project management e.g. YAP, CAYAD, MOH and Nutrition, Health Promotion and a whole range. Health Promoting Schools
• Planning to develop discussion functions: Injury Prevention, Alcohol Healthwatch, PHA, Hapai te Hauora,
• The project continues to provide coaching and presentations which promote collaboration, networking, best use of existing resources, and finding quality information

What is happening in respect of networking?

• People are largely using the project web site for discussion, consultation and support. Still significant number of the target audience are new to the technology.
• Existing sites are looking at developing discussion facilities
• Organisations are actively seeking advice on how best to network on the WWW:
• Use of listserves is evident

What is happening in respect of getting best out of existing resources?

• Still community groups without resources to get involved in WWW
• Cost has come down considerably
• More community groups do have good equipment and more than one phone line and are using e-mail
• Plenty of groups and organisations responding to invitation to see what else (apart from e-mail) can assist effective and efficient work.
• Awareness of WWW as an investment which can save time and money, rather than a cost.
• Awareness of management issues; privacy, equity of access, appropriate use, monitoring, accountability
• Awareness of using other organisation’s sites and equipment

What is happening in respect of finding quality information?

• Use of credible sources of information: linking to web sites of interest.
• Still confusion re searching the Internet, referencing information and saving it on the computer
• Increase in quantity and range of quality of information requires a collaborative approach and leadership to assist others. E.g leaders in a particular field can recommend more reliable sites for information.
• Use of links between web sites and web pages

Future roles within sectors:

• Information management e.g. Cochrane Collaboration
• Sector overview
• Sector Networking and management of Networks
• Organisational Development
• Promotion of the Organisation
• Scoping of International networks and developments

Future roles across sectors

• Generic debate
• Encouragement of WWW use and critical analysis of use, strategic approaches
• Challenging for access to resources
• Providing skill development

Insights

Issues which were not apparent at the start of the project have become part of the project focus:

Team leaders and managers often know less about the Internet than their employees and can be embarrassed and avoid learning. It has been important to provide presentations for these managers so they can advocate for resource development where appropriate.

Bureaucratic barriers appear to be more enduring than financial ones. Where financial barriers exist, they are related to resources other than the computer hardware, software and Internet access costs. Extra phone lines, and the training for team members are a real issue. This project has helped people identify precisely how the Internet can assist them in their work, saving time and costs. Therefore, in many cases, the costs can be planned as an investment which will quickly be regained and will safe time and money thereafter.

Comments from smaller organisations

• Insufficient funding at this stage to purchase a computer
• Questions as to how a web site will assist the services provided by a community based health service to its community
• If there is value in this, how about funding for it?
• Not relevant to a smaller organisation
• Very enthusiastic, but management not supporting resource reallocation

Comments from larger organisation, indicate different barriers:

• Risk of loss of confidentiality in a competitive environment
• Concern that progress fits with organisational business and marketing goals
• Access to computers with Internet connection
• Funding for creation of necessary positions to undertake active participation
• Funding for creation and maintenance of Web Sites.

The competitive funding environment has suited many organisations and there can be resistance to working collaboratively.

Conversely; groups have been quick to share experiences of developing web sites. This includes costs, functions, learning points, staff time across both the development and the maintenance of sites.

There can be resentment of computers per se. People may actively avoid learning computer skills.

Some sectors within the public health field have been quicker than others to find the resources and build Internet skills, and some groups within each sector have been left behind by this new technology.

Telephone lines in rural communities are sometimes not supporting Internet connections adequately.

Future plans for the project

The web site will be updated and re-designed to reflect changing needs within the health promotion community. Training will be provided for the next year, at both beginner and intermediate levels. Strategy workshops will be provided to encourage collaboration and sharing of roles to make the most of the WWW within each health promotion/public health sector.

Please contact Pauline for further information: 025 2802090 or (09) 445 3489