Public Health Concepts Article Review

PUH 5301, Public Health Concepts 1

Course Learning Outcomes for Unit I Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:

1. Assess current public health developments in the community. 1.1 Identify the controversy surrounding a public health issue in your community. 1.2 Describe the goal for an effective public health intervention in the community.

2. Analyze key public health concepts and principles.

2.1 Discuss the goal of public health officials and their application of the core functions of public health.

Course/Unit Learning Outcomes

Learning Activity

1.1

Unit Lesson Chapter 2: Why Is Public Health Controversial? Video: Gun Violence as Public Health Issue Unit I Case Study

1.2

Unit Lesson Chapter 2: Why Is Public Health Controversial? Video: Gun Violence as Public Health Issue Unit I Case Study

2.1

Unit Lesson Chapter 1: Public Health: Science, Politics, and Prevention Video: Gun Violence as Public Health Issue Unit I Case Study

Reading Assignment Chapter 1: Public Health: Science, Politics, and Prevention Chapter 2: Why Is Public Health Controversial? Additional Required Material: In order to access the following resource, click the link below. Bill Moyers (Producer). (1995). Gun violence as public health issue (Segment 11 of 15) [Video file]. Retrieved

from https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?auth=CAS&url=http://fod.infobase.com/PortalPla ylists.aspx?wID=273866&xtid=5485&loid=63039

To view a transcript of this video, click on the “Transcript” tab near the top right corner of the page.

Unit Lesson In April 2014, the town of Flint, Michigan, began to draw water from the Flint River for its residents instead of depending on water from Detroit in an effort to save money. Residents immediately started complaining about the appearance, smell, and taste of the water. It further raised serious public health concerns within a year as residents reported health problems like hair loss and rashes. This problem led to a major public health crisis

UNIT I STUDY GUIDE

The Insurgency Against Public Health

PUH 5301, Public Health Concepts 2

UNIT x STUDY GUIDE

Title

that sparked controversy nationwide and embroiled Michigan Governor Rick Snyder's administration and other public health officials. The issue Flint is currently facing falls under the category of public health. Public health includes many different issues, such as mental illness, air and water quality, and obesity. Anything that affects the overall health of the community falls into the category of public health. Dealing with these public health issues has become a tremendous burden to public health officials because of the conflict of moral opposition and individualistic rights felt by the community and its leaders. Edward A. Winslow, a theoretician in the early 20th century, defined public health as disease prevention that would prolong life expectancy and improve the community as a whole. To accomplish this, public health officials must provide education about prevention methods at both the individual and community levels (Schneider, 2017). Public health in the United States and all over the world has tremendously improved over the years. Many more people are interested in living healthy lives due to the public health interventions that have been implemented. However, many more people still minimize the importance of public health interventions in producing healthier communities. For example, despite the benefits that come with preventive care, many more people do not use preventive care. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, n.d.), many people develop cancer, type 2 diabetes, and heart diseases due to lack of preventive care. Some people are more concerned about their co-payments and deductibles, thus, the backlash on the Affordable Care Act. These two opposing viewpoints lead to controversies that can be seen in every community and the country as a whole. Controversies are inevitable in public health because people see the intervention as either a benefit or a pitfall to their progress or belief system (socioeconomic dynamics). Additionally, there are political factors that influence the response to the crisis, and at times, groups may be unwilling to back down, even if the benefit surpasses the downfall (Patil, 2011). Controversies like the use of automatic assault rifles by civilians, the minimum age to purchase a firearm, and the mental stability of the person purchasing the gun are an inevitable crisis with people citing the Second Amendment rights of the U.S. Constitution, and others citing the safety of schools and communities. To learn more about the controversy of firearms, watch the below video: Bill Moyers (Producer). (1995). Gun violence as public health issue (Segment 11 of 15) [Video file]. Retrieved

from https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?auth=CAS&url=http://fod.infobase.com/PortalPla ylists.aspx?wID=273866&xtid=5485&loid=63039

To view a transcript of this video, click on the “Transcript” tab near the top right corner of the page. Public Health Versus Medicine Public health’s attention on prevention makes it more nonrepresentational than medicine, so achievements in the public health sector are usually more challenging to distinguish. Medical doctors who cure or treat a disease, for example, have recognizable achievements in contrast to the public health researchers who are preventing a disease from spreading or reoccurring. Therefore, it is more challenging for public health officials to comprehend the causes and consequences of disease, disability, and death. Researchers can identify possible interventions to pressing public health issues, but only politics and people who vote can turn most of these interventions into reality. Sex education in Texas, for example, has been a major problem. Sex

Public health concept (Lacroix, n.d.)

PUH 5301, Public Health Concepts 3

UNIT x STUDY GUIDE

Title

education has been banned from many public schools in favor of abstinence; however, this may be causing problems. In fact, Texas has one of the highest rates of teen pregnancy. Pregnant teens have challenges like dropping out of school and developing anemia or preeclampsia. They are at risk for cephalopelvic disproportion, low birth weight, and a higher infant mortality rate. With public health officials vouching for sex education, medical doctors will be praised for saving a teen’s life faced with such challenges while pregnant. Public Health Functions

As shown above, there are three core public health functions: assessment, policy development, and assurance (Schneider, 2017). Before any intervention, the community is assessed and diagnosed, and a strategy to improve the community is developed. This leads to the assurance function in which everyone in the community is notified of the availability and benefits of the intervention. Carrying out the public health agenda requires methodological identification, documentation of health problems, and the development of a means to resolve these problems. Public health officials face the immediate challenge of continuity and receptiveness. If they have to encourage vaccination of all children, for example especially during the flu season, they have to make sure they work with researchers to continue to update information and perceptions on the flu vaccine. They also need to make sure that their message on the vaccine is well received by the majority of the community to make it effective. Despite the tremendous achievement experienced by the public health sector, it is safe to say that a lot still needs to be done, and political interventions seem to sway the way for important health issues. Affordable Care Act Public health’s focus is preventing disease, while medicine’s purpose is treating the disease, which can cause confusion. Consider the attacks on the Affordable Care Act from the Obama era. Things like funding and provisions for prevention, public health, and wellness are continuously in danger. The idea of providing health insurance for all with the utmost obligation by public health officials to increase disease prevention has become a matter of financial burden and citizens’ rights. Safeguarding the health of the community involves the three levels of disease prevention, which include primary, secondary, and tertiary (Schneider, 2017). Let’s apply these types of preventions to the Affordable Care Act:

 Primary prevention aims at preventing injury or disease before it occurs, and it was one of the main objectives of the Affordable Care Act and of public health. Primary prevention includes things like education on the benefits of immunization, healthy eating, physical fitness, fluoridation of water supply to prevent dental cavities, and smoke-free communities.

 Secondary prevention aims at reducing the effect of injury or disease that has already occurred. Secondary prevention would include exams and tests like mammograms, colposcopy, and colonoscopy tests to detect early stages of diseases.

The three core public health functions

PUH 5301, Public Health Concepts 4

UNIT x STUDY GUIDE

Title

 Tertiary prevention softens the impact of an ongoing injury or illness that already has lasting effects. Tertiary prevention involves support groups for strategies on living well with HIV/AIDS, cancer, or type 2 diabetes, and stroke and cardiac rehabilitation programs.

It is important for public health officials to understand the stages of every prevention level when faced with controversies from the communities they are serving. The view of public health produces significant controversy in America’s personal and market-oriented culture. The idea that the government is obligated to provide healthy environments for citizens who are unwilling or unable to provide such conditions for themselves (including medical care) has been attacked constantly. Many Americans instinctively oppose being told what to do or resist the idea of any restrictions implemented by the government on their behavior, even when the intention is to protect their own health and that of others. Besides, many health problems arise from unhealthy behaviors that are so intimate that critics oppose even talking about them. Three issues usually arise when discussing public health activities or interventions— moral, economic, and libertarian—which makes any public health intervention difficult to implement (Schneider, 2017). Conclusion Officials in policy development are authorized to promote healthy communities as described in the U.S. Constitution (Schneider, 2017). However, determining the appropriate limit of government interference versus individual choice is not easy. For example, consider the debate over firearms, which has been highly controversial due to recent events. Some believe that gun control laws need to be stricter, while others do not believe that the guns themselves are the problem. This also goes for other public health issues like abortion, mental illness, gender identity, and vaccinations. The fight for a healthy community, despite all the achievements, seems to have just begun with the increase in public health issues that did not exist more than a century ago.

References Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). Preventive health care. Getaway to health communication

and social marketing practice. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/healthcommunication/toolstemplates/entertainmented/tips/PreventiveHealth.html

Lacroix, A. (n.d.). Public health concept (ID 7974598) [Graphic]. Retrieved from https://www.dreamstime.com Patil, R. (2011). Public health controversies: Common characteristics. Journal of Global Infectious Diseases,

3(1), 97. Retrieved from http://link.galegroup.com.libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/apps/doc/A251166264/HRCA?u=ora n95108&sid=HRCA&xid=ba8a7000

Schneider, M.-J. (2017). Introduction to public health (5th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Suggested Reading The resource provided below is optional but will assist you in understanding certain public health controversies that public health officials have to deal with and how to settle on approaches knowing that not everyone will be satisfied. Patil, R. (2011). Public health controversies: Common characteristics. Journal of Global Infectious Diseases,

3(1), 97. Retrieved from http://link.galegroup.com.libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/apps/doc/A251166264/HRCA?u=ora n95108&sid=HRCA&xid=ba8a7000

PUH 5301, Public Health Concepts 5

UNIT x STUDY GUIDE

Title

Learning Activities (Nongraded) Nongraded Learning Activities are provided to aid students in their course of study. You do not have to submit them. If you have questions, contact your instructor for further guidance and information. Take a moment and reflect on your goals for this course. Why are you here, and what do you hope to learn? Think about what motivates you to pursue public health and what you hope to accomplish through your career.