Essay on Essential Public Health Services

Public health Its Part of the infrastructure that keeps our communities safe and healthy. It bases on health analysis of a handful of people or all the inhabitants of several continents rather than on an individual. Public health includes such parts as epidemiology, biostatistics, health services, environmental, social, behavioral, and occupational health. However, the most current and widely accepted mission definition: According to an article by Bunker, Frazier, and Mosteller (1994), average lifespan of persons in the world are attributable to advances in public health. Most current and widely accepted mission definition is Promote physical and mental health, and prevent disease, injury, and disability.(Wholey & Servicess,1994).

The 10 Essential Public Health Services

Ten Essential Services have the potential to create a comprehensive infrastructure that can provide a supportive context for any public health priority in a community. They describe the public health activities that all communities should undertake and serve the public

Monitor health status to identify and solve community health problems.

Diagnose and investigate health problems and health hazards in the community.

Inform, educate, and empower people about health issues.

Mobilize community partnerships and action to identify and solve health problems.

Develop policies and plans that support individual and community health efforts.

Enforce laws and regulations that protect health and ensure safety.

Link people to needed personal health services and assure the provision of health care when otherwise unavailable.

Assure competent public and personal health care workforce.

Evaluate effectiveness, accessibility, and quality of personal and population-based health services.

Research for new insights and innovative solutions to health problems

The core functions of Assessment, Policy Development, and Assurance help in balancing and focusing on public health responsibilities as the need to strive to provide essential based services to the section. It provides a much needed guiding framework.

The essential services include the following:

Assessment

Monitor and evaluate health status to identify community health problems.

Diagnose and investigate health problems and health hazards in the community.

Policy development

Inform, educate, and empower people about health issues.

Mobilize community partnerships to identify and solve health problems.

Develop policies and plans that support individual and community health efforts.

Assurance

Enforce laws and regulations that protect and ensure public health and safety.

Link people to needed personal health services and assure the provision of health care when otherwise unavailable.

Assure a competent public and personal health care workforce.

Evaluate effectiveness, accessibility, and quality of personal and population-based health services.

Research for new insights and innovative solutions to health problems.

Detailed and comprehensive summary of one essential public health service from each core function

Assessment

1. Monitor and evaluate health status to identify community health problems.

It is crucial for public health organizations to assess and monitor the health status of populations in order to identify trends and to target health resources. Components of this service include: utilization of appropriate tools to interpret and disseminate data to audiences of interest; collaboration in integrating and managing public health; and accurate and periodic assessment of the communitys health status.

Specifically, public health organizations can monitor and evaluate the health status of their populations by creating a disease reporting system, community health profiles, and health surveys. For example, the Los Angeles Department of Public Health completes a Los Angeles County Health Survey (LACHS) every two to four years to obtain population-based data. This information is used for public health assessment and planning and for evaluating changes in health over time in Los Angeles County. Other examples entail conducting a community assessment; determining health service needs; identifying threats to health; timely collection, analysis, and publication of information on access, utilization, costs, and outcomes of personal health services;

Attention to the vital statistics and health status of specific groups that are at higher risk than the total population; and Collaboration to manage integrated information systems with private providers and health benefit plans. My role would be taking a survey on the ground and informing the higher authority of what number of health facilities are actually available to the general public, and the state of the pollution .

Policy development

Mobilize community partnerships to identify and solve health problems

Public health organizations on the local, state and national level can mobilize community partnerships to identify and solve health problems. Components of this service include: building coalitions to utilize the full range of available resources; convening and facilitating partnerships that will undertake defined health improvement projects; and provide assistance to partners and communities to solve health problems. Of particular importance is identification of potential stakeholders who will contribute to or benefit from public health activities. First 5 LA is a community partner who supports targeted programs that address the needs of Los Angeles County children ages zero to five and their families.

They work closely with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health to improve the physical and emotional health of this population. It is important to note that many of these stakeholders may not be considered to be health-related at first glance. For example, undertaking defined health improvement planning efforts and projects; organizations involved in urban planning may be influential in improving the health of its residents. This could include increasing the walk ability of a community or the number of parks or bike trails in a neighborhood. Others include Building coalitions to draw upon the resources of the full community, Convening and facilitating community groups and associations, including those not typically considered to be health-related, to undertake defined preventive, screening, rehabilitation, and support programs; and skilled coalition-building ability in order to draw upon the full range of potential human and material resources in the cause of community health.

My role would be conducting effective meetings not to mention Identifying tactics and strategies for reducing risks. To see to it that the communitys health is safeguarded. .I would pool resources to develop training programs for volunteers. Developing volunteer orientation programs. Promoting participation among diverse groups would also be part of my role in ensuring that the community public health is taken care of.

Assurance

Evaluate effectiveness, accessibility, and quality of personal and population-based health services

Given scarce resources, it is important to keep track of whether or not programs and, or policies end up producing intended outcomes. Components of this service include: assessing the accessibility, quality and effectiveness of services and programs delivered; providing policymakers with the information they need in order to make well-informed decisions regarding the allocation of scarce resources; tracking orderliness, effectiveness, and quality of services analyzing data on health status and service implementation; and striving to improve the public health systems capacity to well serve the population.

Cost-effectiveness analysis has been proposed as one possible strategy for informing policymakers on how best to allocate health care resources. Examples: providing information for allocating resources and reshaping programs. Looking at the Ongoing assessment of health programs based on analysis of health status and service utilization data, to assess program effectiveness and to provide information necessary for allocating resources and reshaping programs,

My roles would be to gather data on public opinion by giving the public questionnaires to fill and possibly interviews with key participants to analyze critical events to gauge the publics views on services rendered to them. I would take it upon myself to .Establish formal communication and establishing participation. I would communicate information to funders for support and accountability. I would take it upon myself to conduct a behavioral survey. Moreover I would try to provide feedback to improve the initiative.

References

County of Los Angeles Public Health. Frequently Asked Questions about the Los Angeles County Health Survey Retrieved

Lerner, K. L., & Lerner, B. W. Apfelbaum, S. I., & Haney, A. W. (2012). The restoring ecological health to your land workbook. (2006). Medicine, health, and bioethics: Essential primary sources. Detroit: Thomson/Gale

http://gethealthycarsoncity.org/about-us/the-10-essential-public-health-services/https://www.cdc.gov/stltpublichealth/publichealthservices/essentialhealthservices.htmlHarrell JA, Baker EL. The essential services of public health. Leadership Public Health. 1994; 3(3): 2730

http://www.health.gov.on.ca/en/common/system/services/phu/locations.aspx http://www.publichealth.lacounty.gov/ha/LAC HS_FAQs.htm. Accessed on 2/7/13.

https://www.networkforphl.org/_asset/dd8lf6/Public-Health-Core-Functions-and-10-Essential-Services.pdf

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