Public Health: What It Is and How It Works, 2nd Edition
CHAPTER 3: HEALTH SERVICES AND PUBLIC HEALTH
After completing this part of the textbook, learners will be able to:
describe at least 3 issues that make the health system a public health concern
identify 5 intervention strategies directed toward health and illness
identify and describe 3 levels of preventive interventions
describe the approximate level of national expenditures for all health and medical services and for the population-based and clinical preventive service components of this total
understand the roles and interests of key stakeholders in the health sector
cite important economic, demographic, and utilization dimensions of the health sector
access and utilize current data and information resources available through the Internet’s World Wide Web
Read Chapter 3 of Public Health: What It Is and How It Works, 2nd edition.
After you have completed this chapter, begin the series of individual exercises for learners listed below. Several of the Internet web sites you visited in previous parts of the course will be useful for exercises related to Chapter 3.
Work with your assigned group to complete the group exercises described below.
After completing the individual and group exercises, take the self-assessment quiz for Chapter 3.
When you have answered the learner exercises and your group has submitted its position, plan to participate in a next class discussion of Chapter 3 debate positions.
Each learner is required to attend a meeting of an official board of health and to provide a brief report on that meeting (no more than 300 words describing the issues raised, interests represented, and roles demonstrated by the board at that meeting). Since most boards of health meet only once a month, it is important that you plan this visit well in advance.
Each learner will submit a brief response (approximately 100 words) to each of the following discussion questions and exercises.
What are the most critical issues facing the health care system in the U.S. today? Before answering this question, see what insights you can find at the web sites of these major health organizations: American Medical Association, American Hospital Association, American Nurses Association, and the American Association of Medical Colleges.
What forces are most likely to fuel further movement toward major health care reform in America?
Do either (a) or (b)-----(a) Why is there less concern over national policy solutions (or "health reform") at the beginning of the 21st century than there was in 1994? (b) If you have a hard copy of Medicine & Public Health: The Power of Collaboration or you are able to access this document (Note: this is a very large file that is not easily viewed or downloaded using modem connections to the Internet. Direct Internet connections work best for this monograph!), which strategies for collaboration between medicine an public health do you think are most promising and why?
Select an important health problem (disease or condition) related to maternal and child health (see "Public Health Achievements in Twentieth-Century America: Improved Maternal and Child Health" from pages 80-86 of the text) and describe interventions for this problem across the 5 strategies of health and illness related interventions (health promotion, specific protection, early detection, disability limitation, rehabilitation) presented in Chapter 3.
Select an important health problem (disease or condition) related to maternal and child health (see "Public Health Achievements in Twentieth-Century America: Improved Maternal and Child Health" from pages 80-86 of the text) and describe interventions for this problem across the 3 levels of preventive interventions (primary, secondary, tertiary) presented in Chapter 3.
Access the National Library of Medicine web site and conduct an online literature search of keywords related to one of the issues identified in Question #1. Indicate the parameters used in this search and the general contents of the most useful article that you found.
Examine the data on the health system in Illinois or one of its counties that is available through the Illinois Department of Public Health, and especially the IPLAN data set. Then review the county-level data available through the web site for the Missouri Department of Health. What elements from these 2 sites are most useful? Do you find these data sets more useful than the national catalog of of community health status indicators?
Develop a "Top 10" list of the most important lessons and themes from this part of the textbook.
Each group will submit a brief response (300 words or less) for the following exercise:
Great Debate: Each group will contribute to a debate and discussion involving the entire class. The debate for this module will focus on contributors to improvements in health status for mothers and infants in the U.S. since 1900. Review the "Healthier Mothers and Babies" and "Family Planning" reports in the "Century of Progress in Public Health" case study (or see "Public Health Achievements in Twentieth-Century America: Improved Maternal and Child Health" from pages 80-86 of the text). There are 2 propositions to be considered. Proposition A: public health interventions are primarily responsible for these improvements. Proposition B: medical care interventions are primarily responsible for these improvements. Each group will select one of these positions to argue and submit a summary of their arguments.
In addition, each group should continue working on Public Health Practice Exercise 1. This exercise covers Chapters 2 through 4 of the textbook.
This is a compendium of additional references and web links to selected sources cited in the readings. Also included are some materials that have become available since the publication date of the text. All links to case studies, web sites, and other documents can also be found on the "Additional Resources" site.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Effectiveness of Disease and Injury Prevention. MMWR 1997;46(4):73-76.
Lasker RD. Medicine & Public Health: The Power of Collaboration. New York Academy of Medicine; New York NY; 1997. (with case studies of successful collaborations) (Note: this is a very large file that is not easily viewed or downloaded using modem connections to the Internet. Direct Internet connections work best for this monograph!)
National Center for Health Statistics. Health, United States 1999 (with Health and Aging Chart Book); Health, United States 1998 (with Socioeconomic Status and Health Chart Book). Washington DC; DHHS-PHS-CDC-NCHS; 1998. Health, United States 1996-1997. (with Injury Chart Book). Washington DC; DHHS-PHS-CDC-NCHS; 1997. (Note: these are very large files that are not easily viewed or downloaded using modem connections to the Internet. Direct Internet connections work best for these materials!)
US Department of Health and Human Services. Healthy People 2010: Understanding and Improving Health. Washington DC; DHHS-PHS; 2000.
Health Resources and Services Administration. Community Health Status Indicators Project. Rockville MD; DHHS-HRSA; 2000.
A brief self-assessment quiz is available by clicking on Quiz 3.
©
2000 Aspen Publishers, Inc. (All Rights Reserved)
Contact the Webmaster at
webmaster@aspenpubl.com