Research and evaluation of Health in All Policies

Evaluation of South Australia’s Health in All Policies approach

In late 2008, a preliminary qualitative evaluation of the Health in All Policies (HiAP) concept and approach was conducted by Flinders University, with senior decision-makers from across government including SA Health. The findings from this research indicated people were very supportive of the HiAP concept and it was recognised that the HiAP approach needed to be comprehensively evaluated. View the Stakeholder perspectives and emerging themes (PDF 84KB) from this preliminary evaluation.

A successful National Health and Medical Research Council (NH&MRC) grant application has provided the opportunity to evaluate the South Australian HiAP initiative in greater detail and will help to establish the links between South Australia’s approach to HiAP and improved health and wellbeing outcomes.

NHMRC grant to evaluate the South Australian HiAP initiative

The NHMRC awarded Flinders University a five year project grant to investigate the effectiveness of South Australia’s HiAP approach.

Work has commenced on the collaborative research project being undertaken by Flinders University and SA Health. The project ‘Does a Health in All Policies approach improve health, wellbeing and equity?’ draws on policy theory to study the implementation of complex cross-government approaches through a systematic evaluation of the South Australian HiAP initiative.

The main methods include workshops, surveys, and interviews to collect information about HiAP implementation, processes and effectiveness. A program logic model has been developed which will be updated throughout the project to explain the ways in which the HiAP approach operates.

Emerging evidence demonstrates that where HiAP has been applied, it has been effective in developing positive joined-up policy solutions; has strengthened capacity for collaboration and partnerships within government, and has increased the focus on health and wellbeing in government public policy making processes.

This is an exciting opportunity for South Australia as it will be the first comprehensive evaluation undertaken of the HiAP initiative. This project is funded by the NH&MRC until 2016.

Further information

Further information about the grant is available on the Flinders University -  Health in All Policies website.

Evaluation of Health Lens projects

Process and impact evaluation is conducted on each Health Lens Analysis project as they are completed. Process evaluation is critical to the success of the South Australian HiAP model and in a process of continual improvement the evaluations have informed the way in which subsequent Health Lens projects are designed and undertaken.

Each health lens evaluation is informed by a range of methods including: 

  • focus groups
  • key informant interviews
  • document analysis.

Refer to the Health Lens Analysis Projects page for completed evaluations.

For peer-reviewed publications examining the Health in All Policies approach in South Australia, see the Health in All Policies resources page.