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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.

Since 1980, the United States has taken on 10-year plans that outline certain key national health objectives set to be accomplished during a 10-year timeframe (Shi & Singh, 2015). These initiatives are founded on medical care with prevention services, health promotion, education, community health care, and increased access to integrated services. The initiative, Healthy People 2010: Healthy People in Healthy Communities, launched in 2000. The initiative emphasizes the role of community partners such as

A Heart for the Work: Journeys Through an African Medical School by Claire L. Wendland is both an first hand account of time spent in an African medical school and hospital as well as a critique on Western medical practices. Dr. Wendland, an accomplished anthropologist and physician, provides a first hand account of her time in a Malawi, one of the poorest countries in the world. Through this account she provides insight into the complete journey a student must take to become a doctor in conditions much different than our own. These insights and research are used to argue that medicine, or biomedicine as it is called, is part of a cultural system and is predicated on the cultural ideals and resources of developed nations. Wendland uses the differences in moral order, technology, and resources between the Malawian culture and our own culture to provide evidence for her main argument.

There are some challenges, as well, in implementing health promotion programs that use the social ecological framework. One main challenge is that programs are expensive and complex to implement in certain community settings. Also, there needs to be close coordination and collaboration between individuals and groups. In the article by Wagemakers et al., the authors developed a framework that links the domains of social environment and health, with key health predicting mediators, and operational variables of participation and collaboration (6). They based this framework on experience in case studies, audits of community health programs in the Netherlands, and ideas found in the literature. The authors offer four key guidelines on how to apply the framework that can help increase community participation and collaboration. These guidelines are: use the variables as a menu, set specific aims for social change processes, use an action research approach and triangulate data. This framework can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of community health promotion designs and address the challenges faced in implementing new programs.

During my numerous trips to Nigeria to visit my extended family, I saw firsthand how international health disparities can affect communities. It is often challenging to make the highest standard of care available to all groups and individuals here, and I became increasingly motivated to devote myself to the mission of reducing health disparities in African countries. People in my family, regardless of societal class, suffered from various illnesses including HIV/AIDS, malaria, and polio because of poor access to quality healthcare services. My goal is to return to underserved communities in the United States and Nigeria after being armed with the training from the University of Michigan School of Information that will allow me make

There are several components of an organization: having an accomplished and competent workforce, the latest system for storing and transmitting data, and the proficiency to evaluate and respond to the health needs of the public (Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 2015). Within these dynamics are the tools to enhance the health of communities by formulating environments that support & sustain optimum health, while promoting the learning of skillful behaviors. To break this down further, the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014) believe that with the above tools, every public health

‘Public health is everyone’s business’ illustrates Jones (2012, p.2). The Faculty of Public Health regard public health as a combination of health protection, health advancement and promoting health (Griffiths and Dark, 2006, cited in Jones, 2012, p.6).

For example, interim measures in the first six months of an initiative might explore the process of establishing stronger relationships with a community through town hall meetings or one-on-one conversations with key influencers. Metrics surrounding these activities might assess levels of participation among target audiences, and whether the meetings led to the identification of concrete action steps. If data show that relationships are not strengthening, rethinking engagement approaches would be warranted. After a partnership’s first full year, assessments of changes in community member awareness of how to access health services, as measured through random-sampling surveys, could indicate the effectiveness of awareness-raising interventions, and suggest needed improvements if increases are falling short of objectives or expectations. As the evaluation process evolves, sharing progress with the community may help drive further engagement. This can be accomplished by making periodic scorecards on key measures available; issuing progress reports on the evolution of partnerships; and hosting face-to-face opportunities for the community to meet to hear about progress and ask

The public health profession has long recommended that local public health agencies periodically conduct community health assessments (CHA) and community health improvement plans (CHIP) to inform and guide their activities.5 A 1988 IOM report, The Future of Public Health, recommended that “every public health agency regularly and systematically collect, assemble, analyze and make available information on the health of the community, including statistics on health status, community health needs, and epidemiologic and other studies of health problems.”5 Community health improvement plan (CHIP) is defined as "a long-term, systematic effort to address health problems on the basis of the results of assessment activities and the community health improvement

The Liberian Government, through the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MoHSW), the caretaker of the nation’s health services and advocate for children’s health and welfare has prioritized improving its health sector. However, the colossal task of bringing the health system back to pre-civil war years has become a formidable challenge. Besides, the limitation of services to both the rural and urban poor, the health system lacks trained medical personnel, including technicians, nurses and doctors (Bertelsmann Stiftung, BTI. 2016).

Assess the role of the family, community, organizations and international community in in improving public health

The residents of Africa are suffering from preventable, treatable, and fatal diseases everyday at a higher rate compared to developed countries. The healthcare crisis in Africa is the primary cause of all these deaths, and includes inefficient healthcare systems. Consequently, African's inefficient healthcare systems results in poor delivery of care and a shortage of health professionals. The healthcare crisis in Africa is a current issue impacting the lives of many African's who don't have the same access to resources as developed countries such as the United States. These resources can save the lives of many African's dying of preventable and curable disease, and understanding why the African continent has little access to them

America’s cities have been built upon population growth and economic development — essentially meeting the economic needs of investors. The problem is that public leaders don’t always think about public health. Thinking about what to build, and taking into consideration the health of the people in the community. According to Dr. Jackson, co-author of Designing healthy communities, states ‘what really impacts people’s health is where they live, how they live, and the other people they are with’ — i.e. their surrounding community. (Designing, 2013.)

I have perceived health promotion and disease prevention may be similar, but the strategies used to improve or implement may need to be approached in different ways depending on individual beliefs and values around the meaning of health Tengland, (2010). I trust, in order to improve or change health interventions, as a health care provider, I need to assess and learn more about the community I am trying to change or improve. I realized the importance of educating people about their health so they know how to take care of themselves (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2014).

In public health, as in many fields there are a set of conundrums that practitioners, leaders and law makers have to address in order to provide the most appropriate service to their populations. One of these conundrums is the battle between what is good for the community vs. what is good for the individual. This topic will be broken up to the community vs. the individual, and discussed based on research done by Kass et al, and Oriola, and will be concluded by presenting possible solutions.