Public health is a major field of study in medical and clinical sciences focusing on the maintenance, protection and improvement of the health status of population and community groups. This is a different field of study that can be taught in a separate school of public health or environmental health. WHO defines public health as:
environmental, social, and economic resources to maintain emotional and physical well-being among people in a way that promotes their aspirations and meets their needs in their unique environment.
Public health tends to focus on specific geographic communities. Characteristics of public health are often examined using geographic information system software (GIS) and public health datasets. Some projects, such as InfoShare or GEOPROJ incorporate GIS with an existing dataset, allowing the general public to examine the characteristics of each particular community in participating countries.
Medical interventions that occur in society can be classified into three categories: primary health, secondary health care, and tertiary health care. Each category focuses on different levels and approaches to the community or population group. In the United States, public health is rooted in the achievement of primary health care. Primary health care programs aim to reduce risk factors and promote health promotion and prevention. Secondary health care is linked to "hospital care" where acute care is given in the hospital's department setting. Tertiary health care refers to highly specialized treatments that typically involve disease or disability management.
The success of public health programs depends on the transfer of information from health professionals to the general public using one-to-one or one to many communications (mass communication). The latest shift is toward health marketing.
Video Community health
Measure community health
Public health is generally measured by geographic information systems and demographic data. Geographic information systems can be used to define sub-communities when environmental location data is insufficient. Traditionally public health has been measured using sampling data which is then compared with well-known data sets, such as the National Health Interview Survey or the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. With technological developments, information systems can store more data for small, urban, and municipal communities; compared to census data that only generalize information about small populations based on the overall population. Geographic information systems (GIS) can provide more precise community resource information, even at the environmental level. Ease of use of geographic information systems (GIS), advances in multilevel statistics, and spatial analysis methods make it easier for researchers to obtain and generate data related to the built environment.
Social media can also play a big role in health information analysis. Studies have found social media can influence people to change their unhealthy behavior and encourage interventions that can improve health status. Social media statistics combined with geographic information systems (GIS) can provide researchers with a more complete picture of community standards for health and wellbeing.
Maps Community health
Public health category
Primary health and primary prevention
Community-based health promotion emphasizes primary prevention and population-based perspectives. It is the goal of public health to have individuals in a particular community improve their lifestyle or seek medical attention. Primary health care is provided by health professionals, especially those first seen by patients who may refer them to secondary or tertiary care.
Primary prevention refers to premature avoidance and identification of risk factors that can cause certain diseases and disabilities. Community-focused efforts including immunization, classroom teaching, and awareness campaigns are good examples of how primary prevention techniques are used by communities to change specific health behaviors. Prevention programs, if designed and carefully designed, can effectively prevent problems faced by children and adolescents as they grow older. This finding also applies to all groups and classes of people. Prevention programs are one of the most effective tools that health professionals can use to influence individuals, populations, and public health.
Secondary health care and secondary prevention
Public health can also be improved by improvements in individual environments. Public health status is determined by environmental characteristics, behavioral characteristics, social cohesion within the community. Appropriate modifications in the environment can help prevent unhealthy behaviors and negative health outcomes.
Secondary prevention refers to improvements made in the lifestyle or patient environment after the onset of disease or disability. This kind of prevention works to make life easier for patients, because it is too late to prevent them from their current illness or disability. An example of secondary prevention is when people with back pain are provided with strategies to stop their health status from deteriorating; the prospect of secondary prevention can even be more promising than primary prevention in this case.
Chronic disease management program
Chronic illness has been a growing phenomenon in recent decades, affecting nearly 50% of US adults by 2012. These diseases include asthma, arthritis, diabetes, and hypertension. Although they are not directly life-threatening, they place a significant burden on everyday life, affecting the quality of life of individuals, their families, and the communities in which they live, both socially and financially. Chronic illness is responsible for about 70% of health care spending in the US, spending nearly $ 650 billion dollars annually. With an ever-increasing number, many public health providers have developed self-management programs to help patients manage their own behaviors well as making adequate decisions about their lifestyle. Apart from clinical patient care, the program is facilitated to better educate patients about their health condition as a means to adopt behaviors that promote health into their own lifestyles. Characteristics of these programs include:
- group patients with similar chronic diseases to discuss disease-related tasks and behaviors to improve overall health
- increase patient responsibility through daily disease monitoring
- cheap and widely known
The Chronic Disease Self-management program is structured to help improve overall patient health and quality of life as well as use of fewer health care resources, such as doctor visits and emergency care. In addition, better self-monitoring skills can help patients effectively and efficiently utilize the time of better health professionals, which can result in better care. Many self-management programs are conducted through health professionals or colleagues who are diagnosed with certain chronic illnesses trained by health professionals to undertake the program. No significant differences were reported to compare the effectiveness of a self-led peer-led versus professional program.
There is much debate about the effectiveness of these programs and how well they affect patient behavior and understand their own health conditions. Some studies argue that self-management programs are effective in improving the quality of life of patients and reducing health care expenses and hospital visits. A 2001 study assessed health status through the use of health resources and self-management outcomes after 1 and 2 years to determine the effectiveness of chronic disease management programs. After analyzing 800 patients diagnosed with various types of chronic conditions, including heart disease, stroke, and arthritis, the study found that after 2 years, there was a significant increase in health status and fewer emergency and physician visits (also significant after 1 year). They conclude that this low-cost, self-management program enables the use of fewer health services and improved overall patient health. Another study in 2003 by the National Institute for Health Research analyzed the self-management program of chronic illness 7 weeks in cost-effectiveness and health efficacy in populations over 18 years who had one or more chronic diseases. They observed similar patterns, such as improved health status, reduced number of visits to the emergency department and to doctors, shorter hospital visits. They also noticed that after measuring unit costs for both fixed hospitals ($ 1000) and emergency department visits ($ 100), the study found overall savings after the self-management program generated nearly $ 489 per person. Finally, a meta-analysis study in 2005 analyzed several chronic disease management programs focusing specifically on hypertension, osteoarthritis, and diabetes mellitus, comparing and differentiating different intervention groups. They concluded that self-management programs for diabetes and hypertension resulted in clinically significant benefits for overall health.
On the other hand, there are some studies that measure little significance of the effectiveness of self-management programs of chronic diseases. In a previous 2005 study in Australia, there was no clinical significance in the health benefits of the osteoarthritis self-management program and the cost-effectiveness of all these programs. Furthermore, in a 2004 literature review analyzing the variability of chronic disease management education programs by disease and overlapping similarity, researchers found "small to moderate effects for certain chronic diseases," recommends further research being undertaken.
Some programs are looking to integrate self-management programs into traditional health care systems, especially primary care, as a way to incorporate improved behaviors and reduce the patient's increased visits with chronic illness. However, they argue that severe limitations inhibit these programs to act full of potential. The possible limitations of the chronic disease management education program include the following:
- lack of minority cultural representation in the program
- lack of professional medical/health involvement (especially primary care) in self-management programs
- low profile program in community
- lack of funds from the federal/state government
- low participation of patients with chronic illness in the program
- uncertainty of program effectiveness/reliability
Tertiary health
In tertiary health, public health can only be affected by professional medical care involving the entire population. Patients need to be referred to a specialist and undergo advanced medical care. In some countries, there are more subspecialties of the medical profession than primary care specialists. The health gap is directly related to social benefits and social resources.
Challenges and difficulties with public health
The complexity of public health and its problems can make it difficult for researchers to assess and identify solutions. Community-based participatory research (CBPR) is a unique alternative that combines community participation, inquiry, and action. Community-based participatory research (CBPR) helps researchers address community issues with wider lenses and also works with people in the community to find culturally sensitive, valid, and reliable methods and approaches.
Other issues involve access and medical care costs. Most of the world does not have adequate health insurance. In low-income countries, less than 40% of total health expenditures are paid by the public/government. Public health, even the health of the population, is not encouraged because the health sector in developing countries can not link national authorities with local government and community action.
In the United States, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) changes the way public health centers operate and policies are implemented, greatly affecting public health. ACA directly affects community health centers by increasing funding, extending insurance coverage to Medicaid, reforming Medicaid payment systems, allocating $ 1.5 billion to increase workforce and promote training. The impact, importance, and efficacy of the Affordable Care Act are still being studied and will have a major impact on how to ensure healthcare can affect community standards on health as well as individual health.
Academic resources
- Urban Health Journal , Springer. ISSNÃ, 1468-2869 (electronic) ISSNÃ, 1099-3460 (paper).
- International Quarterly Public Health Education, Sage Publications. ISSNÃ, 1541-3519 (electronic), ISSNÃ, 0272-684X (paper).
- Global Public Health, Informa Health. ISSNÃ, 1744-1692 (paper).
- Journal of Public Health, Springer. ISSNÃ, 1573-3610.
- Family and Public Health, Lippincott Williams & amp; Wilkins. ISSNÃ, 0160-6379 (electronic).
- Health Promotion Practice, Sage Publications. ISSNÃ, 1552-6372 (electronic) ISSNÃ, 1524-8399 (paper).
- Journal of Research and Policy on Health Services, Sage Publications. ISSNÃ, 1758-1060 (electronic) ISSNÃ, 1355-8196 (paper).
- BMC Health Sciences Research, Biomed Central. ISSN 1472-6963 (electronic).
- Health Service Research, Wiley-Blackwell. ISSNÃ, 1475-6773 (electronic).
- Health Communication and Literacy: Annotated Bibliography, Quebec's Center for Literacy. ISBN: 0968103456.
See also
- Community mental health services
- Online health community
- Prison Reform
- Public Health University, Magway
Note
Further reading
- John Sanbourne Bockoven (1963). Moral Medicine in American Psychiatry , New York: Springer Publishing Co.
External links
- Progress in Public Health Partnerships: Research, Education, and Action
- InfoShare
- GEOPROJ
- Health Action by People India (HAP)
- Health marketing-CDC
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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