Public Health Importance for Community Well-being

Introduction to Public Health:

Public health centers on the protection and promotion of the health of the people by going for active prevention, making policies, and educating people on health issues. It includes such issues as the management of communicable diseases, alleviation of safety risks, and nudging residents to adopt healthy lifestyle.

Key Areas in Public Health:

Epidemiology: A branch of medicine that determines the frequency and the causes of the disease.
Biostatistics: The process of gathering, reviewing and performing statistical procedures on biological data.
Environmental Health: How the environment affects people’s health.
Health Services Administration: Organization and management of health care service delivery.
Health Education: Activities aimed at educating the public or setting a population about their heath challenges.

The field of public health involves scientific discipline along with practice in the field at the community level which contributes towards betterment of all the population.

History and Evolution of Public Health:

The roots of public health go back to the times, when official recognition of sanitation and hygiene was practiced. The eforts of aqueducts and public latrines can be found in Imperial Greece and Rome.

The Black Death resulted in quarantining people for the first time in the history of Europe. The development of which culminated in 19 century:

1842: Edwin Chadwick’s sanitary report about the English healthy surroundings.
1854: Modern epidemiology commenced when Snow made a map of cholera outbreaks.
1875: Public Health Act in Britain based formalizing the public health reform.

The establishment of vaccination and antibiotics , as well as WHO in1948. A particular concern of today public health is dedicated to the prevention of chronic diseases and health equity.

Core Functions and Essential Services:

Public health does not only concern itself with the health concerns of the people, but also the problem has to identify, address and bring order to three functions that are crucial in every public health initiative. Public health has to be evaluated on three core areas as: Assurance, assessment and policy development.

The above core functions also summarize some essential services: Measuring the outcomes of the delivered programs and identify the health status of the target population.

Assessment:

Regularly assessing the community’s health by ongoing health information.
Conducting research to center on particular diseases, their transmission and populations at risk.
Monitoring and planning for health efforts across their entire lives.
Collecting feedback and adjusting programs on an ongoing basis.

Policy Development and Health Promotion:

Intervening systemically through the promotion of health to the individuals, organizations and the population.
Designing appropriate interventional measures in outreach programs for the affected population and wellbeing agencies.
Ordering sociopolitical readiness for change.
Restraining unwanted behavior by examining existing populations.
Enforcing appropriate acknowledged standards of health to avoid occupational hazards. Joining others who have relevant knowledge towards providing health Related services.

Assurance:

Ensuring laws are adhered to for the purposes of maintaining health and safety of the population.
Connecting individuals to appropriate personal health care services.
Development of a trained workforce.
Primarily external applicability assessment and universal comprehension of the concern

Key Public Health Disciplines:

Public health encompasses a variety of disciplines in which will be well discussed four main areas.

Epidemiology: Deals with health-related states or events and the distribution and determinants of health states or events in populations.
Biostatistics: The discipline applies statistics to public health problems.
Environmental Health: Deals with understanding how the environment impacts on the health of the individual.
Health Services Administration: Refers to Public health practice which encompasses the organization, management and delivery of health services.
Social and Behavioral Sciences: Correlating the behavioral theory and interpersonal communication in health related circumstances.
Global Public Health: This is public health at local or regional level that seeks to address issues of global public health.

The Role of Epidemiology:

Epidemiology is one of the most significant areas of public health in which a systematic (? It should sound like running a system or by categorization) inquiry is made concerning the occurrence of health related events and their causative factors. Public health experts apply epidemiology to:

Research epidemics
Accumulate evidence on the risk factors
Define the risk factors
Develop strategies
Prioritize effective actions

The scope of epidemiology includes the following:

Descriptive Epidemiology: Classical figures describing the so-called three dimensions of epidemiology.
Analytical Epidemiology: Search for reasons using different designs.
Intervention Epidemiology: Involves an intervention primarily aimed at changing the health of the target population for the better.

Epidemiology includes strategies and systems, such as statistical methods and observation procedures, which are very important in dealing with disease progression and planning in the health sector as the world over.

Health Promotion and Disease Prevention For Public health:

Health promotion and disease prevention practices are based on a variety of approaches so as to improve health and lessen the occurrence of diseases among the people. Some of the strategies are:

Facts and Awareness: Awareness rising concerning the availability of nutrition, importance of good and active life style and other related health’s
Immunization Programs: Mass immunization wings in the hospitals to curb the outbreak of infections.
Routine check and health examination: Such examinations for the purpose of early identification of diseases.
Legislation and Environmental Modification: Establishing laws for the protection and betterment of health.
Programs at the Community Level: Policies that assist communities to participate in health promotion and/or disease prevention programs.

It is important to say that these all have to be effectively done through correct information exchange and cooperation.

Policy Making in Public Health and Social Health Advocacy:

At the population level, public health policies and advocacy fundamentally alter health outcomes. There are several aspects of this process such as:

Policy Formulation: Creating laws and policy frameworks that enhance health and invite disease prevention.
Policy Based Evidence: Making use of facts and figures to formulate policy.
Partnership: Collaborating with the government, non- governmental organizations, and the business sector in health care activities.
Campaigning: Efforts to influence policy in favour of health through education, lobbying, and organizing communities.
Review and Modification: Determining the effects of the policy and improving the policy.

Policy and Advocacy as advocated requires decision-makers and the general public to be guided and mobilised respectively.

Environmental & Public Health:

It is the science of assessing how environmental factors may impact human health. There are certain aspects of this such as:

Air Pollution: Studying the levels of sulphur dioxide, ozone, particulate matter and other pollutants including gases.
Water Pollution: Ensuring the safety of drinking water and control of pollutants in the surface waters.
Waste: Elimination of solid and other hazardous wastes to avoid pollution.
Toxicology: The study of hazards that industrial chemicals or pesticides pose to people’s health.
Environmental Noise: Studying ways in which industrial and urban noise pollution can be reduced.
Climate Change: Understanding the Effects of Severe Weather Events on Health and Disease Transmission in Relation to Climate Change.

Global health approaches illness:

Prevention and treatment, and is not limited to the needs of a particular region or country. Populations worldwide are faced with a number of challenges including:

Infectious Diseases:

The limits for the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and others have not been crossed yet with these diseases still constituting a burden to the health systems in every part of the planet.

Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs):

NCDs of today such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and cancers are still on the rise threatening economic and health resources.

Pandemics:

Some new pathogens are, however, have been mentioned by world leaders considering the threat level of the COVID-19 disease and suggest that a global response is needed for such threats.

Climate Change:

There are diseases that spread more in given environmental exposure and more so affecting the marginalized groups.

Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR):

AMR is a problem that reduces the effectiveness levels of treatment that needs collaboration of all countries in creative ways.

Public Health Challenges and Solutions:

Public health is faced with several difficulties making it necessary for stem policy decision to be prepared.

Challenges:

Chronic Diseases: The consistently Existing threat of health issues like heart diseases, diabetes and cancer.
Infectious Diseases: Diseases that manifest as Epidemics like flu, malaria and Covid-19 for a few examples.
Environmental Health: Problems related to Pollution and Climate changes or Waste Management.
Healthcare Access: Quality and availability of care and services and the differences among them.
Mental Health: More and more cases of depression, anxiety, and substance abuse are surfacing.
Vaccination Hesitancy: Vaccine apathy from the public leading to outbreaks of diseases that were considered as eradicated.

Solutions:

Education Campaigns: Run strategies to encourage people about prevention, or treatment options.
Policy Reforms: Reintroduction of some policy changes to eliminate imbalances in the access to healthcare services.
Research and Innovation: Make monetary contributions towards medical research and conceptions of new products.
Community Engagement: Encourage members of the community to be involved in health programs.
International Cooperation: Work with other countries in fighting epidemics and responding to health emergencies.

Current Trends and Future Directions in Public Health:

Public health is one of the fields that covers a wide range of subject areas and is currently experiencing changes and expanding new frontiers, such as:

Digital Health Technologies: New kinds of affordable healthcare through telehealth, mobile telephony apps, and portable devices.
Data Analytics: The use of big data and sophisticated analytics in outbreak forecasting, intervention evaluation, and resource allocation.
Mental Health Focus: More focus on mental health, prevention, healthy interventions, and stigma reduction.
Climate Change: Research, policies, or even programs addressing the health consequences of climate change.
Global Health Initiatives: Enhancing international collaboration against emerging synonyms threats and pandemics, factors call for protection of vaccinations, and improving provision of health services.

How to Pursue a Career in Public Health:

Education:

Collect a bachelor’s degree in biology, public health, or another similar course.
Aim and complete the Master of Public Health (MPH) degree in order to avail yourself these possibilities.
If leadership is your goal, then you may also want to consider the Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) degree or a PhD.

Certifications:

Have necessary certifications such as Certified in Public Health and many others.

Experience:

Acquire work related experiences by way of doing internships and volunteer work, or working in starter positions.
Interact with professionals and become a member of public health associations.

Abilities:

Analyze, communicate and exercise leadership.
Complete more information on current ideas and approaches in public health.

Job Search:

Utilization of Internet resources in looking for a job.
Visit employment events and participate in vocational events.

Case Studies and Success Stories:

Malaria Control in Zanzibar: Application of fishing nets and training of community health agents resulted in a 75% reduction of malaria cases within five years.
Hypertension Control in Finland: National programs directed toward changing diets and increasing public knowledge brought about a 60% reduction in the incidence of hypertensive individuals.
Mental health policy in Australia: Using the program ‘Headspace”, the mental health of the youths’ population improved and aided is suicide death rates.
HIV/AIDS Awareness in Uganda: Through education and the availability of preventive treatments, new HIV infection rates were significantly reduce.
Childhood Immunization in India: The “Mission Indradhanush,” achieved an increasing immunization of 80% of the children, averting several infectious diseases.

Resources and Further Reading:

Books:

RichaRd Riegelman 2006 “Public Health 101: Healthy People, Healthy Populations”.
Mary-Jane Schneider ‘Introduction to Public Health’ 2013.

Journals:

American Public Health Association (APHA): American Journal of Public Health.
The Journal of Public Health Management & Practice.

Websites:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), United States.
The World Health Organization.

Online Courses:

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: “Epidemiology: The Basic Science of Public Health” provided by Coursera.
Doane University: “Public Health in Community Settings” provided by edX.

Podcasts:

Johns Hopkins University – Public Health On Call.
This Day in Global Health: TWiGH.

Conclusion and Key Takeaways:

Public health definition: Means, Public health addresses the health of a community with a view to shield all that is around from pathological threats.
Core functions: Assessment, policy development, Assurance.
Key areas: Epidemiology, Biostatistics, Health Services Administration, Environmental Health, social and behavioral suites.
Preventive measures: Immunization’ health education. And healthy behaviour promoting policies.
Global health: Countries’ joint effort in trying to solve public health problems on a worldwide scale.
Emerging issues: Prevention of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), pandemic response and preparedness and health equity.
Importance: Very important in improving the quality of life and in increasing the healthy life span.