department of public health

department of public health

Promoting Public Health: A Comprehensive Guide

1. Introduction

This section is an essential read for students new to the topic of public health as the issues examined provide a clear example of how public health has progressed into a health promotion movement. It is often said that the most effective way to understand a new concept is to explain it in the context of an example. By constantly relating the issues discussed back to the definitions made on public health and the core functions and areas of responsibility, it is hoped that this section is an effective way to teach the concept of public health to the new student.

Public health is the science of protecting and improving the health of communities through education, promotion of healthy lifestyles, and research for disease and injury prevention. It is the organized effort of society to promote the health of whole populations. This introductory chapter identifies and examines the public health issues of the United Kingdom and Western Europe. A brief look at public health in the past will give an understanding of the health status of the region and how it has come to be in recent times. Beginning with the first industrial revolution and moving on into modern times, this discussion will help to define the reasons behind the health status of the UK and Western Europe. With information on how public health has evolved into the health promotion movement of today, this will give a good platform to look forward at the health issues of tomorrow. Building on an understanding of the present health status, by identifying and examining the current and future public health issues in the region, this chapter will help to set the scene for the rest of the text.

2. Understanding the Department of Public Health

There are numerous responsibilities and functions of the Department of Public Health that can vary greatly from one state to another. The movement of the healthcare system and managed care has greatly affected the delivery of public health services. Public health needs to be more innovative and effective than what is being done at present. To do this, it needs to address some key challenges. These include better coordination of public and private sector funding resources to support essential public health services, easing access to services that will help individuals and communities to be healthy, promoting extensive knowledge on the prevention of illness and disabilities, and enhancing the capacity of the trained public health workforce. This is the basic standard a public health service should provide.

The Department of Public Health is a specific organism of the health system and, together with other health services and levels, forms an overall health system. Their mission is to improve the health of the people of the United States. Their strategy is to improve the health status from individual to nationwide levels. They receive their authority from governmental powers at various levels, including federal, state, and regional legislation. This they do through the support of evidence-based strategic national health goals and objectives. Their main tool in achieving these aims is a nationwide health promotion and disease prevention program.

3. Key Initiatives for Public Health Promotion

This section will discuss the aspects of primary, secondary, and tertiary levels of health promotion. Each level of promotion plays its own role in improving the health status of the individual or the community. It includes educational interventions directed at supporting healthy behavior changes. It also involves risk and early detection, which includes activities such as mammography and regular blood pressure monitoring. At this level, health providers are enabled to protect their clients from diseases. Lastly, it involves preventive measures prior to the onset of symptoms. This is where most education work takes place. The emphasis is linked to the prevention of a disease or disability at a specific and definable point in time by providing better education and vaccination. This section consolidates on the importance of health education. It is seen to increase the quality of life and health of the public, which is linked to the empowerment of individuals to make informed decisions about their health. This practice is conducted by health professionals to inform the consumer about an existing or future health problem. The intention of this is to increase the health know-how by improving awareness, attitudes, and behavior. The public health nurse today plays a variety of roles and functions in diverse settings. They have adapted Benson’s (1975) definition of a nurse who promotes, preserves, and optimizes the health of the community he or she is serving. This can be further demonstrated using the Core Functions of Public Health, which nurses use as a framework to perform their duties. These have been produced by The Public Health Functions Project, an initiative to aid in the restructuring of the public health system in the US. According to these, nurses carry out the assessment and monitoring of the health of communities and at-risk populations to identify health problems and priorities. This is particularly useful, and research is productive in identifying new areas where education is needed, such as primary prevention against elevated blood pressure in younger adults, a recent and increasing health promotion area.

4. Strategies for Effective Public Health Communication

Health belief model The health belief model is a psychological model that attempts to explain and predict health behaviors by focusing on the attitudes and beliefs of individuals. It states that learning occurs when the individual realizes that by adopting a particular behavior change, a positive outcome will result, and that the preventive action is possible and leads to an outcome that is more favorable than the one achieved by not adopting the health behavior. This must all follow an evaluation of the relative costs and benefits of alternative actions. In order for a behavior change to be carried out, the individual must believe that they are susceptible to the condition, the condition has serious consequences, and that by adopting a new behavior, a positive change will result. This model can be used to determine the different perceptions of individuals in order to supply the correct message for them to change their health behavior.

Tailoring involves aiming determined health messages at precise individuals, generating information in a way that is important and salient to the recipient. In order to tailor a message, the changing process of individuals must first be understood. This involves precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance. For example, an individual in the contemplation stage for sun protection may be given the cons of sitting in the sun with no protection to enforce a negative attitude towards the behavior. Tailored messages are more effective in promoting health behavior change than non-tailored messages.

Tailoring

5. Conclusion: Working Towards a Healthier Future

Public health is about preventing disease and prolonging life by promoting health through organized efforts of society. The ultimate goal is to improve the health of the people. Public health is what we, as a society, do collectively to ensure the conditions for people to be healthy. This is done by putting health on the agenda of policymakers, informing the people regarding health issues, and enforcing healthy lifestyles. This can be seen as complementary to clinicians practicing medicine, which treats patients with particular diseases. The clinician’s efforts are very much appreciated, but the clinician will not be able to do a great job if the society in which the patient lives promotes an unhealthy lifestyle. This is where we need to pass this information to the people; clinicians can also help on this matter. But the effort to improve society’s health as a whole is what differentiates public health and medicine.

Thank you for taking the time to read this book “Promoting Public Health: A Comprehensive Guide”. The book is indeed a comprehensive guideline for students and laypeople who are potential counterparts and audience for this information. The basics of public health and how we can achieve it are described in detail and illustrated. The students, without realizing, can apply the information in their daily life. This information is worth practicing as it not only involves individuals but the society as a whole.