The Importance Of Public Health And Medical Care

While both medical care and public health work to improve the lives of many people, there are several distinctions between the two fields. Healthcare providers such as nurses and doctors are responsible for diagnosing and treating illnesses for individual patients. The care ranges from minor injuries to severe and chronic diseases. Meanwhile, public health strives to improve the well-being of a population. Public health advocates for the overall “promotion and prevention” of diseases before it even becomes an issue for healthcare providers. Public health encourages people to adopt healthy lifestyle choices and strives to control the outbreak of diseases. Although public health is often overlooked in the grand scale of medical care, it is undoubtedly the main aspect in ensuring that the overall health of a community is prospering.

If you asked most people to describe what they consider to be the main thing affecting our countries health they would probably describe something that falls under the category of medical care when in reality this makes up only 25 percent of what determines a population’s health (Where Health Begins).The rest of the influences that effect the health of a population come in the form of a person’s genetics, behaviors, socio-economic status, physical environment, access to healthcare, and even the policies and laws put in place around them. Many of these factors are not under the control of the individuals which is why it is important for us as future physicians to understand the barriers that face the people we will be serving in order for us

In the whole of the United States, the Public Health System comprises of the National, State and community, often referred to as Local agencies (Slover, 2005). As opposed to Medical Care, Public Health focuses on the promotion of health in the community. It, further, promotes and enhances prevention of diseases and injuries to the community members. As such, the primary goal of the Public Health System lies in the promotion and protection of health in the local community (Slover, 2005).

The CDC Foundation defines public health as the science of protecting and improving the health of families and communities through healthy lifestyles promotion, research for disease and injury prevention and detection and control of infectious diseases (CDC Foundation). Public health focuses on providing healthy conditions for the entire population. The key three main functions of public health are: monitoring the health of at risk populations to identify health problems, formulating public policies to solve national health issues, and assuring that everyone has healthcare equity, quality and accessibility. Currently it is a wide range of public health campaigns such as: clean drinking water, safe job sites, motor-vehicle safety, and safe sex

Public health services were established early in United States health history. The public health approach, in its ideal concept, deals with communities. The public health mission is to serve the community. The public health approach emphasizes prevention, though prevention in this context generally means preventing the occurrence of disease in individuals.

Public health promotes healthy living for each community through epidemiology. Disease prevention and control is the common goal of epidemiology, nursing practice, and public health. “Epidemiology is the study of the population in order to monitor the health of the population, understand the determinants of health and disease in the community, and investigate and evaluate interventions to prevent disease and maintain health” (Stanhope & Lancaster. 2008). Epidemiologists have developed many parameters to slow the spread of disease. For example, cardiovascular disease including hypertension, coronary heart disease, and

-Public health is a services which focused on promoting the health status of the population. To accomplish this mission, we have to do some assessments by diagnosing and investigating health issues, develop a policy by mobilizing community partnerships, inform, empower and a quality assurance by enforcing laws, develop and apply public health science.

Health care in the United States remains different then compared to other nations. The United States takes a different direction by making a medical welfare system for the poor and the elderly and leaving the rest of the

Unfortunately in the United States (U.S.) health care is not a basic right that all have. While the U.S. is considered one of the richest nations in the world and spends more on health care than other countries throughout the world, access and affordability to health care continues to be an issue (American Nurses Association [ANA], 2017). There continues to be vulnerable and marginalized populations who are less likely to obtain health care in the U.S. due to cost or lack of insurance coverage. Generally speaking in the U.S. our health care is a privilege, not a right. Individuals must either purchase health insurance or pay for the services they receive in the event that they utilize the health care system. The Center for Economic and Social

In an article written with the numbers from 2017, we found out that America is the eleventh richest country in the entire world. Our country has $59,495 GPD. Nearly 33 million people in the United States were without health care in 2014. It doesn't make any sense financially that one of the richest countries in the world won't offer free health care to all Americans because “it should be the individual's responsibility”. For several reasons, I am a firm believer that Americans should have free health care.

Public health is commonly referred as the science and the art of preventing disease, promoting healthy practices and behaviors, ameliorating well being, and increasing lifespan (Turnock, 2012). While it has many commonalities with other fields that study the human body and behavior, microorganisms, or statistical values, the goal of public health is larger and it targets the entire population. It involves a deeper understanding of epidemiology, policies, health behaviors, environmental and iatrogenic factors, social and political aspects that assure a good outcome in health care.

community, living a satisfied and healthy live, is about impact our environment has on our

Public health can now deal with community health and prevention, individual care and treatment as well as broader political and economic situations such as air pollution. Public health’s main concern is with disease prevention and many health care organisations are now practicing preventative medicine in order to maintain this. The ultimate focus of this approach has shifted from disease treatment and crisis management to focusing on health in general and how to improve this concept throughout the community.

I became drawn to the health care field during my teenage years, when I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease affecting various joints. As I went through years of treatment, my physician and other medical professionals were profoundly helpful and motivational in keeping a positive attitude. They were also inspirational as I saw the genuine goodness that they felt from helping people. As a result of all the help and emotional support that I received from these medical providers throughout my youth, I have chosen to pursue a career in the service of others through the public health field. My career goal is to be a health care system policy analyst at the federal level while being employed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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.