America's Public Health In The 21st Century

For second part of reading response, I choose to report on Promoting public understanding of public health article by our professor Stephen Bezruchka. I really enjoyed reading the article he wrote about how people in the America are being less healthy than those people in other rich nations. Promoting public awareness about this topic should be high priority for all Public Health majors. Health is the most important part of human life and it surprising to me that people in America are not really doing anything to change it. Solving this problem need individual supports and public supports.

The health status of the population in the United States is a national priority. The Healthy People 2020 outlines priorities and to improve the health of individuals and communities across the country. Healthy People 2020 is defined as a comprehensive set of national objectives for “improving the health of all Americans” (Healthy People 2020, n.d, para. 1). The Healthy people 2020, is aimed at improving the health of individuals and communities and envisions “a society in which all people live long, healthy lives” (Healthy People 2020, n.d, para 4). A short priority list was developed and contains twenty-six objectives knowns as Leading Health Indicators (LHI). The list of objectives was created to prioritize health issues that must be addressed and to find appropriate actions to take in order to improve the health of the population.

Demographics and disease trends will influence health care delivery services in the future in many different ways. Not only will the current aging population affect the delivery of health care services because of its rapid growth, but also obesity. Obesity is one of the more serious problems facing our nation today, and will only get worse unless the implementation of programs to educate the public on the many health issues this condition can cause to prevent them from happening. Moreover, not only does the health care delivery system need to adapt in the future to provide quality care for

Health trends in the United States indicate that there are several real problems trending. First of all, the United States population is aging at a fairly rapid rate which means that the problems associate with old age are becoming more prevalent. Another issue that country must face is that obesity has become an epidemic that needs to be curtailed or the health system will not be able to help the people who are destined to adopt diseases associated with increased weight. This essay is a report with regard to the trends that are occurring in the United States health environment and what those trends mean for healthcare professionals.

“Nurses have a long and rich history of wanting to do the most good for the most people. Today, it is imperative that advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) continue that tradition by delivering care that improves the health of populations.” (Curley & Vitale, 2016). Along with other health care providers, APRNs individually share the responsibility of promoting more healthier lifestyles among his or her surrounding community. Over the course of the past several years, much needed attention has been focused towards population based health disparities and the impact thereof on our nation. In the pursuit of obtaining a healthier society, the U.S. government has designed and utilized a program presently titled HealthyPeople2020. This program

The health of the American people lags behind those from other developed countries. Federal public health agencies have a wide range of responsibilities and functions which includes public health research, funding, and oversight of direct healthcare providers. It has been a long time since changes have been made to the way the federal government structures its health care roles and programs outside of Medicare and Medicaid (Trust, 2013). With healthcare reform on the horizon now is the time to invest time and money in prevention, not medicine, making it a top priority to improve health and prevent disease. Funding efforts at all levels of the public health continuum need to focus on developing programs aimed at such leading initiatives

Obesity and weight related disease are at an all time high and continue to plague the United States.

One in three Americans are at risk for more than 30 chronic illnesses due to obesity. It is the biggest driver of healthcare, costing the country millions of dollars each year. Poor eating habits are the main cause of this disease and could all be changed beginning with the youth of the nation. 20 million children under the age of five are now considered overweight or obese in America (Dyer). What was once a rare disease, has now become an epidemic. Few health topics have initiated as much debate and controversy as obesity has within the past 15 years. The hope of new treatments progresses as obesity becomes the norm of our society and continues to change America every day.

Despite the Obama Administration, believing that the declined health care is the uninsured, in fact the cause is from poor health in the United States. Our life expectancy for women in 1945 ranked 1st in the world and has decreased now ranking the 20th in 1999 (Battista and McCabe 1). The Decline in health “despite the nation’s wealth-or perhaps because of it-one of the most obese population in the world” (Armstrong and Wayne 2). Obesity induce various health problems that are “preventable

America is the wealthiest country in the world, yet the health of Americans is extremely low. “According to the Mayo Clinic, the top health problems in America vary slightly between men and women, however, heart disease kills the largest number of Americans per year regardless of gender” (Kulas, 2013). Being overweight is another major health concern in our nation today. Obesity has been directly linked to numerous other significant health problems including: Heart Disease, Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, and Stroke. There are many things our government can do to improve the health of our nation; there are also some simple solutions everyone should do to better their family’s health. The most effective ways to end this health crises in America are government regulations or laws, community education programs, everyone being more physically active and getting an appropriate amount of sleep.

Two major reasons why the U.S. has the highest health care expenditures are substantially higher prices and more fragmented health care delivery that leads to extensive use of medical resources. Insured and high-income Americans, however, have more problems with health care services such as not getting regular medical treatments than the insured in other OECD countries. It reflects the lack of comprehensive health insurance coverage and higher out-of-pocket costs for care of the insured. Fragmented coverage in health care plans also does not support coordinated care in-network including the sharing of information among health professionals and insurance providers. A more effective health care system and management in primary

As summarized by Franck et.al., “Because of the scale and complexity of the obesity epidemic, any one intervention cannot reasonably be expected to reverse obesity trends in the immediate future. Rather, the goal should be small changes to result in cumulative, population-wide effects over time.”23 One such component of change, exemplified by the present results, is the improvement of nutrition education for medical providers. Others include reforms in federal agricultural policies, increased emphasis on preventive care and reimbursement for such services, public health interventions at state and local levels, and behavior change among individuals.24

This week’s discussion post explores the topic of nursing health interventions for health promotion. In my opinion, health promotion is very important. It allows us to focus on prevention of diseases and informs us on how to reduce our risks of certain diseases. It is also beneficial to living a healthy lifestyle. My family is a prime example that needs health promotion. The topic I have chosen is family meals and healthy eating.

Public health nurses "play a strategic role in helping reduce environmental and lifestyle-related health hazards by promoting a positive lifestyle, including exercise, stress management, accident prevention, weight maintenance, and nutrition education that is sensitive to socio-economic status and cultural beliefs” ("Obesity's Impact on Public Health Nursing," n.d.). Nurses can help by involving themselves in policy development by being active participants in the policy process as it closely resembles the nursing process. Through community assessments, public health nurses can determine health factors by assessing the socioeconomic, environmental, and behavioral factors of the population to determine interventions

The 21st Century has seen the healthcare system struggle with challenges such as an increase in chronic conditions, an increase in government spending on public health, and emerging threats such as global health security and antibiotic resistance. On the positive side, more people have gained access to care. To deal with these emerging issues as well as existing challenges, we need an effective public health workforce. The public health has the role of protecting the health of citizens. This could be through health promotion and lobbying for increased access to care. To address the problem of the rise in chronic ailments, public health has a role of creating awareness on chronic conditions, their symptoms and management. This is because these conditions are expensive to treat and drain the resources of patients and their families. Public health should therefore educate the public on the importance of screening and conduct these screening services for early diagnosis and prevention of chronic diseases. Another role of public health in the 21st Century is to provide and use evidence based practice in providing clinical services. This would help in addressing some of the emerging challenges such as antibiotic resistance.