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Evolution Of Public Health

Decent Essays

1. Define public health and provide a brief description of the evolution of public health.

Public health is the combine organised efforts from different sectors (public or private) within the society that help people to become healthier or less sick, promote health, prevent illness and prolong life. Its focus to promote good health practices on the population; therefore their involvement is more on populations wellbeing physical and mental health than individuals cases.

Public health has been through an evolution in history. This progression started with the need to look for resources to address the elimination of illness and ways to prevent diseases. Baum gave us an overview regarding the old public health and its focus on the improvement …show more content…

Provide examples of the functions of public health. Which of the functions of public health most interests you and why?

According to the World Health Organization, Public Health has three main functions: Assessment and monitoring of the health of populations or communities at risk to identify health problems and priorities. The formulation of public policies intended to solve and identified the local and national health problems and priorities. Also, ensure that all populations have access to a cost-effective care, including health promotions and disease prevention services.
Examples: Assessment and monitoring of an specific population who is developing a disease, such as aborigines Australians and the development of the hepatitis B or the lower/medium income households people who develop cardiovascular diseases due to lack of exercise and poor diet. The information is collected and analysed to confirmed trends and identifies health priorities.

The National Health Priorities Areas (NHPAs) has identified 9 diseases that need urgent attention; therefore become a health priority in Australia. The public health function involves the decreasing of the social and financial burdens associated with biological and mental health problems in the population (AIHW, …show more content…

The lack of exercise, and the increase of illness due to the overweight or obesity left the person feeling hopeless and without a clear direction; therefore it has been suggested that it could be connected with depression. The overweight or obese cannot move further, cannot access sports, do not participate actively in physical or social activities, and, therefore, can be isolated, so then the lack of interaction, the unhappiness with current health status drags the person to the stage of discontent which leads to mental health issues, if not treat it immediately. http://www.healthdirect.gov.au/obesity?gclid=CJ7kq4rCo8UCFVWVvQodyzcAAw According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, the current rates of overweight and obesity are continuing higher in Australia. 3 in 5 Australian adults are overweight or obese; which is over 12 million people. 1 in 4 Australia children is overweight or obese. These trends are intimidating and immediate reaction by the Government is required. http://www.aihw.gov.au Analysis using Social determinants of

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