Hcs 535 Public Health and Healthcare

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

The ability to contribute to designing prevention and control strategies to prevent endemic or epidemic transmission in the United States was intriguing. As a NACCHO Policy Scholar with the Infectious Disease department, I was thrilled to work on two exciting public health projects; the Flu Near You and HIV/AIDS Policy Initiative Project. Both projects are in line with my areas of interest as a Public health practitioner and included a review of evidenced based literature to understand effective strategies and interventions that could be adopted in these projects.

The role of the U.S. Public Health Service Commission Corps is to promote, protect, and advance the safety and health of the entire population of the nation. It aims to incorporate its services through effective and rapid response to the health needs of the public, provide health practice through leadership excellence and improvement of health sciences to the public (HealthyPeople). One of the main objectives for the Corps is maternal care as well as infant and child health care. Its goal is the improvement of the well-being and health of women, children, families, and infants. The agencies that employ Corps physicians include the CDC, CIA, NIH and other facilities that require skilled treatment, with the prerequisite of stopping the spread

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

All public health programs depend on the presence of infrastructure. The infrastructure in Washington, DC is vast. Being the nation’s capital in some ways, created the epicenter for several well-known public health agencies and organizations. For instance, the Whitman-Walker Health Foundation, Health HIV, One Medical, The DC Center, The George Washington University, as well as government initiatives (Department of Health and Human Services).

This is a highly responsible professional position located within the Bureau of Preparedness and Response. This position works under the supervision of the OMC Manager-SES of the Evaluation and Analysis Unit. This position is responsible to implement and sustain the unit’s projects pertaining to the areas of Vulnerability Assessment, Preparedness Capabilities Evaluation, Response System Evaluation and Analysis, and Analysis and Evaluation Management. The specific duties and responsibilities of this position are:

State health departments are responsible for multiple areas in regards to providing health care services to the people of their state as designated by the U.S. Constitution. (Niles, 2018, p.98) One main role of the state health department is to "monitor communities to identify health problems". (Niles, 2018, p.98) This includes creating and implementing laws and regulations to promote the well being of their citizens, and to work with federal programs to use them on the state level. According to the American Public Health Association, "The state health department's mission to advance community health is carried forward through four basic functions: (1) health surveillance, planning, and program development; (2) promotion of local health coverage;

In the United States (U.S.), chronic diseases are the leading cause of death and disability. Chronic disease activities are sparsely delivered in the U.S. despite the fact that 7 out of 10 deaths are caused by chronic diseases, every year; and 75% of our health care costs 75% of health care costs are attributable to preventable diseases.1,2 One main reason for this imbalance is that funding for chronic disease prevention activities is limited. In fact, only 3% of the U.S. total health expenditure is devoted to public health.3 The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the leading federal agency for public health spends an estimated 70% of its budget on infection disease prevention and control, with less than 10% of its spending devoted to chronic disease prevention.4

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website provides tools and resources to the public on health issues and more which is ideal for educating our society. You can find outbreak information which allows you to become aware of health issues so that it’s possible to protection you and your family. On CDC’s website, I found information on wildfire smoke which is important if you live in an area that is frequently affected by fires so that you can prepare you and your family for future fires and the health issues associated with fires. I also located data and statistics by topic on CDC’s website and found numerous diseases and other health related issues which is important to be informed on what is happening around us and how we can better protect ourselves. CDC’s website contains information on emergency preparedness and thought it was important because not everyone is educated on the steps to protect you and your family. The information and features I came across applies to the medical field in aspects of patient education and knowing the steps to protecting our society against diseases and health related issues. The director of the CDC is Brenda Fitzgerald, MD who plays a key role in helping to protect the world from the threat of deadly diseases. Fitzgerald has responsibilities to know medicine, science, public health, policy and leadership to best support and protect

The currently evolving H1N1 influenza and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) emphasize the concerning threat of naturally occurring contagion. The recent experience from hurricanes and extreme weather along with the attacks of September 11th 2001 have confirmed that the United States faces a true threat of mass casualty incidents. These threats have brought to light that U.S. Healthcare organizations must be prepared, resourced and organized to respond to hazard impacts. Hospital administration must ensure that their facilities are prepared to handle hazard impacts, an examination of healthcare system response has shown that when there is a disaster the initial response to any medical need will always be based upon locally available health organizations and that effective healthcare response during a disaster is complex (Emergency Management Principles and Practices for Healthcare Systems, Second Edition, 2010).

Federal government is supposed to collect data reports from States and compose healthcare performance reports. With the lack of direct supervision, it is no surprise that the alarming number of unimmunized children went unnoticed for so long. Also, the rigidity of some outdated federal policies did not help control the issue. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was aware of the understaffing crisis facing local health centers was aware. But due to the specificity of budgetary distribution policies, CDC could not allow

“A complex array of institutions supports the delivery of public health services in the United States.”1 There are federal agencies such as the CDC, the FDA, and the NIH. Federal agencies are important in public health because of their power to create and implement national health policies and allocate health resources.1 Then, there are state health agencies which are responsible for administering public health programs and services state-wide.1 Lastly, there are local government agencies and they have the most direct responsibility for performing public health activities at the community level.1 All agencies collaborate together and are the backbone of the public health system.2

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had many key audiences it was required to communicate with during the Ebola outbreak. Most importantly, the CDC needed to be communicating with employees within the CDC. They needed to be on the same page as to how messages were being released and controlled, as this was a very sensitive subject. Furthermore, it was imperative that heath care providers around the world were receiving appropriate information. U.S. government agencies, the World Health Organization (WHO) and local and regional public health officials (Dallas County Department of Health and Human Services and the Texas Department of Health and Human Services (DSHS)) were also key audiences. More specifically, the nurses

The creation of a National Prevention, Health Promotion and Public Health Council was accomplished through law, which organizes the work of federal agencies to cultivate a national approach on prevention, wellness and public health activities. There is a significant financial commitment by the law for the national strategy by authorizes $7 billion yearly through 2015 and $2 billion in each year after for a Prevention and Public Health Fund. The funds will upkeep prevention research, health screenings, obesity prevention, tobacco control, immunization programs, and other

The CDC has resources that set up a plan for preventing and controlling emerging diseases. Prevention and control of communicable diseases is focused on elimination, eradication. Also, primary, secondary, and tertiary preventions and their role in prevention and control of communicable diseases is important to know. Teaching about immunizations when discharging a child from a hospital admission is an example of primary prevention.