Download Public Health

Public Health
Objectives
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Define public health
Identify the core areas that comprise public health
Explain the responsibilities of each core area in public health
List improvements in populations due to public health
Discuss and analyze public health’s ethical principles
Explain how public health professionals tracked and identified
the AIDS virus
• Discuss the importance of team work in public health
What is Public Health
• field of science responsible for improving health and
preventing disease in populations (specific communities)
• Unlike clinical medicine, which focuses on individual health,
public health focuses on protecting the health of entire
populations.
• populations can be as small as a neighborhood or as big as an
entire town, state, or country
Public health professionals
• Public Health Professionals examine and investigate health
events (any occurrences that affect well being of people) that
may occur due to:
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disease/conditions (acute, chronic, latent, genetic)
accidents and injuries
mental health conditions
personal lifestyle choices
environmental exposures
Public Health Professionals
• promote healthy lifestyles and prevent health-related
problems from happening or re-occurring
• implementing educational programs, developing policies,
administering services, and conducting research
• work at limiting health disparities (equity, quality, and
accessibility)
Public Health Core Areas
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Environmental Health
Biostatistics
Behavioral Science/Health Education
Epidemiology
Health Services Administration/Management
Maternal And Child Health
Nutrition
Public Health Laboratory Practice
Public Health Policy
Global Health (International Health)
Environmental Health
• concerned with environmental risk factors that can cause
disease
• environmental health areas of concern:
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air quality
food protection
radiation protection
solid waste management
hazardous waste management
water quality
noise control
environmental control of recreational areas
housing quality
vector control
Biostatistics
• uses math and science to identify and predict health trends
Behavioral Science / Health
Education
• focuses on healthy-choice behaviors
• includes community-wide education programs promoting
healthy lifestyles to raise disease/injury prevention awareness
• career concentrations include: mental health,
behavioral/lifestyle change, public health education, social
research of behavior and health
Epidemiology
• investigates disease outbreaks
• participates in fieldwork around the world to determine:
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causes of diseases/injury
risks of specified diseases or injuries
which populations are at risk for specific diseases/injuries
methods to prevent further health incidents
• biostatistics are often used in conjunction with epidemiology
to predict and track disease trends
Health Services Administration /
Management
• combines business and science in the managing of human and
monetary resources needed to deliver effective public health
services
• specializes in planning and organization of policies;
responsible for analysis, finance, economics, and marketing of
health services
Maternal and Child Health
• provides information and access to birth control
• promotes health of pregnant women and unborn child
• improves public health delivery systems specifically for
women and children through advocacy, education, and
research
Nutrition
• field examines how food and nutrients affect wellness and
lifestyle of population
• sponsors healthy eating and exercise awareness
• educates community about dangers of both obesity and
overdieting
Public Health Laboratory
Practice
• laboratory professionals (microbiologists, biochemists,
pathologists) who test biological and environmental samples
in order to help diagnose prevent, treat, and control diseases
in communities
• ensure safety of public food and water
• screen for presence of certain diseases within communities
• respond to public health emergencies (e.g. infectious disease
outbreaks, bioterrorism)
Public Health Policy
• works to improve the public’s health through legislation at
local, state, and federal levels
• example: seat belt laws
Global (International)
Health
• global public health professionals who address health
concerns among different cultures around the world
• works towards health challenges that transcend national
boundaries
• this international field encompasses virtually all specializations of
public health
• Impact of Public Health
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Improvement of populations quality of life
increase in life expectancy
world-wide reduction of infant and child mortality
elimination or reduction of many communicable diseases
Center for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC)
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Founded by Dr. Joseph Mountin
July 1946
Started with less than $10 million and 400 Employees
Office in Atlanta, GA
Originally set up to combat Malaria
Communicable Disease Center
CDC History
CDC Today
• CDC works with states and other partners to provide a system
of health surveillance to monitor and prevent disease
outbreaks (including bioterrorism), implement disease
prevention strategies, and maintain national health statistics.
CDC also guards against international disease transmission,
with personnel stationed in more than 25 foreign countries.
CDC Goals
• CDC is now focusing on becoming a more efficient and
impactful agency by focusing on five strategic areas:
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supporting state and local health departments
improving global health
implementing measures to decrease leading causes of death
strengthening surveillance and epidemiology
reforming health policies
World Health Organization
• When diplomats met to form the United Nations in 1945, one
of the things they discussed was setting up a global health
organization.
• WHO’s Constitution came into force on 7 April 1948 – a date
we now celebrate every year as World Health Day.
Texas Department of State
Health Services (DSHS)
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Began as early as 1870 with Quarantine Act (yellow fever)
In 1879 a physician was appointed to be in charge of quarantines
Several reorganizations and re-namings over the next 95 years
1974 named the Texas Department of Health
About $57,000 budget and 2 departments in 1891
As of 1993:
• 23 Bureaus
• 50 Divisions
• Over $476 Million dollar budget
• In 2003 Texas Department of State Health Services
• Merged department of:
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Texas Department of Health
Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation
Texas Health Care Information Council
Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse