From Awareness to Action: Prioritizing Public Health
Public health professionals work behind the scenes to keep our communities healthy and safe. Their efforts aim to prevent illness, ensure everyone has access to quality healthcare, and champion important initiatives such as vaccinations, clean water, and disease control strategies.
Because many communities face these public health issues, we can’t afford to sit back and observe. Raising awareness is the first step towards prioritizing the well-being of our communities and fostering a healthier and happier life for everyone involved.
What is Public Health?
Public health is a proactive approach aimed at safeguarding the health and well-being of everyone in our communities. Without people working on it, we’d all be at an increased risk of health issues like disease and infection.
Health initiatives, such as encouraging healthy habits, teaching people about vaccines, and monitoring potential threats, help ensure the health of our communities.
10 Essential Public Health Services
According to the American Public Health Association (APHA), 10 Essential Public Health Services that public health systems are in charge of delivering:
- Assess and monitor population health.
- Investigate, diagnose, and address health hazards and root causes.
- Communicate effectively to inform and educate.
- Strengthen, support, and mobilize communities and partnerships.
- Create, champion, and implement policies, plans, and laws.
- Utilize legal and regulatory actions.
- Enable equitable access.
- Build a diverse and skilled workforce.
- Improve and innovate through evaluation, research, and quality improvement.
- Build and maintain a solid organizational infrastructure for public health.
These services provide a framework to ensure communities are protected and people’s health is cared for.
“To achieve optimal health for all, the Essential Public Health Services actively promote policies, systems, and services that enable good health and seek to remove obstacles and systemic and structural barriers—such as poverty, racism, gender discrimination, and other forms of oppression—that have resulted in health inequalities,” says the APHA.
Public Health Initiatives And Impact
These initiatives may not always be glamorous or make the headlines, but they’re crucial to keeping our communities safe, healthy, and thriving. It’s all about working together to ensure everyone has the same opportunities regarding well-being. Some examples of public health initiatives are:
Vaccination campaigns
Public health initiatives can prevent outbreaks by ensuring that as many people as possible get vaccinated against diseases like measles or polio.
Fluoridation
Adding fluoride to public water supplies effectively prevents tooth decay and improves community dental health.
Healthcare access services
Programs like Medicaid expansion, community health centers, and telehealth services can improve health outcomes and reduce barriers to healthcare access.
Maternal and child health services
Prenatal care, vaccinations, and early childhood development programs can improve the health of mothers and children. These initiatives lead to lower infant mortality rates, healthier pregnancies, and better long-term outcomes for children.
Healthy eating and physical activity
By encouraging people to eat nutritious meals, exercise regularly, and avoid unhealthy habits like smoking, public health efforts can help prevent chronic diseases like heart disease and diabetes.
Emergency preparedness and response
Coordinating emergency services during natural disasters, disease outbreaks, and other public health crises can support affected communities and minimize the impact of these events.
Smoking cessation programs
Providing resources, support, and counseling to people to people who want to quit smoking can help lower the risk of lung cancer, heart disease, and other smoking-related illnesses.
HIV prevention and treatment
Efforts to promote HIV education and awareness, testing, and access to therapies can significantly reduce the spread of HIV and improve the quality of life for those living with the virus.
Identifying Health Priorities
Because numerous public health issues require diligent efforts and dedication to address them effectively, identifying the priorities helps workers focus their efforts and allocate proper resources to have the most significant impact.
So, how do communities know what issues to tackle first?
They look at a few factors:
- Prevalence
- Severity
- Community Impact
Addressing and prioritizing important public health issues, global or local, is critical to building healthier and happier communities.
Increasing Awareness
It’s not only up to public health workers to improve things. They also need regular people to pitch in. To help, they set up programs to spread awareness about critical public health initiatives in our neighborhoods and elsewhere.
Public health workers and volunteers use various strategies to increase their community’s awareness of public health issues. Some examples are education campaigns, social media, and community engagement programs.
Overcoming Barriers to Action
Organizing, implementing, and promoting public health initiatives can be challenging. And planning and coordinating programs and events for our communities takes a long time, and the work doesn’t come without hurdles.
Some common barriers to addressing public health issues:
Lack of funding: Programs need money to run, but funding for public health initiatives can be limited. With enough resources, it’s easier to implement and sustain initiatives.
Political interference: Sometimes, decision-makers prioritize other issues over those most critical to their community’s health, or they might interfere with public health initiatives for political reasons.
Misinformation and stigma: Getting people on board with public health efforts can be tricky. Many lack accurate information about health issues or have a stigma surrounding certain diseases or treatments. Misinformation spreads quickly, leading to distrust in healthcare providers and causing people’s reluctance to participate.
Health inequities: Not everyone has equal access to healthcare, and many need additional resources to stay healthy. These inequities are commonly based on factors like race, income, education, and geography and can make it challenging for specific communities to benefit from public health initiatives.
Resistance to change: Change is hard, especially regarding people’s behaviors. Many resist embracing healthy habits or participating in public health initiatives due to personal beliefs, cultural norms, or other factors.
Limited infrastructure: Some communities need more healthcare facilities or trained workers to effectively support public health initiatives, making it challenging to deliver healthcare services and reach the people who need help the most.
Globalization and travel: More people are traveling, and more goods are moving worldwide, and this trend is only on the rise. As a result, infectious diseases have the potential to spread rapidly across borders.
These are just a few examples of the barriers that public health initiatives might face. Overcoming these requires collaboration, innovation, and a commitment to addressing the root causes of health disparities and inequities.
The Role of Technology
Technology makes things easier, faster, and more efficient. With careful planning, collaboration, and a commitment to equity, technology can be a powerful tool in our efforts to build healthier communities for everyone.
Data collection and analysis: Technology helps us gather and analyze huge amounts of data about health trends, outbreaks, and risk factors, helping officials make informed decisions about where interventions are needed most.
Telemedicine and remote healthcare services: The ability to access healthcare services remotely, whether through video consultations or using apps, can improve access to care, especially in rural or underserved communities.
Electronic health information: Records and health information systems make it easier to share information, coordinate, and track outcomes, leading to better continuity of care and personalized treatment options.
Wearable devices: Fitness trackers and smartwatches can monitor heart rate, sleep patterns, and activity levels. This data gives people insights into their health and helps them make positive changes to improve their well-being.
While technology offers exciting opportunities to improve public health outcomes, it’s always evolving. Communities often need to overcome privacy and security issues and disparities in access to technology.
How can you help?
No matter who you are or where you live, there are ways you can improve your health and the health of the people around you. First and foremost, stay aware of what’s happening in your community to understand where your help is needed and how you can make a meaningful impact.
The APHA lists a few options for you to get involved:
Locally
- Get involved with your local schools.
- Attend community meetings and volunteer for initiatives.
- Promote wellness at work or in other community spaces.
- Find an active non-profit to get involved with.
- Support health-related initiatives in your community.
On a national scale, send a letter to your government officials. Use this list for ideas.
Become a member of the APHA to learn from leaders in the field and network with over 25,000 others doing groundbreaking work to create healthier communities.
If donating is more your style, the APHA has various options for you to give your money. You can also donate your vehicle to the APHA.
It’s everyone’s job to be aware of what’s happening in their communities. By staying informed and actively participating in efforts to improve public health, we’re contributing to the well-being of everyone in our community.
Whether getting vaccinated, promoting healthy habits, or supporting community initiatives to address health issues, each of us plays a role in creating a healthier and safer community for all.
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