Strengthening the prevention delivery system for children in disadvantaged communities through infrastructure development

Abstract

In Australia the most severe levels of social, health and economic disadvantage are concentrated in just 1.5% of 2,147 localities which have remained largely unchanged over the past 30 years (Vinson, 2007). The complexity, multidimensionality, and resistance to change of "wicked problems" (Bronfenbrenner, 2005; Gray, 1985; Rittel and Webber, 1973, p.1160) are increasingly viewed as demanding the use of comprehensive multisectoral developmental-ecological approaches with a geographical or 'place-based' focus in order to be able to respond to the specific needs of each community (Chilenski, Ang, Greenberg, Feinberg, and Spoth, 2014; Hawkins et al., 2015; Kania and Kramer, 2011). These approaches typically involve stakeholders from a range of professional domains and program and policy areas working collectively with community residents and local organisations (Bronfenbrenner and Evans, 2000; Fagan, Hawkins, Catalano, and Farrington, 2019). Thus, just as the social forces that perpetuate poverty are intertwined, so too are effective solutions (Schorr, 1998).