World Cafés as a method of identifying cross-sectoral policy solutions to social determinants of health equity in Australia

Vollständiger Abstract

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Abstract World Cafés are a method to promote inclusive, constructive dialogue to identify solutions to large scale problems. These attributes make World Cafés a potentially valuable tool for multi-sectoral dialogue to identify solutions to health promotion issues such as addressing social determinants of health inequities. However, there are few accounts of World Cafés being used to bring disparate sector knowledges together to address common problems. We sought to test how the World Café method could aid bringing together multi-disciplinary and multi-sector expertise to identify solutions to reduce increasing health inequities in Australia. We conducted World Cafés in each Australian state and territory (N = 8) with a total of 162 participants from academia, government, and civil society. Participants were drawn from sectors including health, education, housing, urban planning, economics, and employment, and from organizations representing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, people with a disability, multicultural communities, youth, and older people. We found different sector participants readily found common ground and collaborated to identify potential public policy solutions to health inequities, generating deep discussion on structural drivers that would not be possible without bringing together these sector knowledges. This upstream focus is likely to identify opportunities to make meaningful changes to create healthier, more equitable societies. Participants reported valuing participation in the World Cafés, making the research more of an exchange compared to other data collection methods. We would suggest World Cafés are a valuable addition to a research toolkit for seeking structural solutions to health promotion issues.