GCPH Seminar Series 8 Lecture 3 - Antony Morgan

Thinking and acting differently: An asset model for public health

Very few people argue with the need to address the social determinants of health and much effort has already been made at national and international level to reduce persistent health inequities between and within countries. However, global health inequities continue to widen, as the effectiveness and quality of programmes vary considerably, sometimes resulting in the reverse of expected outcomes. Local political issues and cultural conflicts clearly play a part in these situations. However, the asset model proposed in ‘Health Assets in a Global Context’ suggests that it is the disproportionate emphasis between deficit and asset based approaches that prevent effective and sustained action. The former focuses on assessing health needs, sometimes ignoring the potential strengths of individuals and communities; the latter assesses multiple levels of health-promoting aspects in populations, and promotes joint solutions between communities and outside agencies.

The Asset Model sets out a challenge for policy makers, researchers and practitioners to think and act differently to support positive joint solutions for health. It brings together a range of existing ideas to provide a framework for establishing the evidence base required to demonstrate the benefits to be gained from investing in asset based approaches.