Public Health: What It Is and How It Works, 2nd Edition
CHAPTER 5: CORE FUNCTIONS AND PUBLIC HEALTH PRACTICE
After completing this part of the textbook, learners will be able to:
describe the "governmental presence in health" concept
identify and describe the 3 core functions of public health
discuss how public health core functions are operationalized in practice
explain approaches to assessing how effectively the core functions are being carried out in a community
discuss how community health improvement processes are implemented in community settings
understand how continuous quality improvement principles can be applied to public health practice
describe approaches to improving state-local public health systems
Read Chapter 5 of Public Health: What It Is and How It Works, 2nd edition.
You should review the group products from Exercise 1 and identify the executive summary that you think is most effectively presented. Submit your response in a brief note (less than 50 words) and review the reactions from other learners.
After you have completed this chapter, you should begin the series of individual exercises for learners listed below. Several of the Internet web sites you visited in earlier modules of the course will be useful for exercises in this part of the course.
Work with your group to complete the group exercises described below.
After completing the individual and group exercises, take the self-assessment quiz for Chapter 5.
When you have answered the individual exercises and your group has submitted its "Top 10" list, you should plan to participate in a class discussion of the "Top 10" lists developed by all groups in the class.
Everyone 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.
Everyone will submit a brief response (approximately 100 words) to each of the following discussion questions and exercises.
Review the organization of health responsibilities in Illinois (or another state) and describe how the 3 core functions of public health are delegated and carried out among various offices and agencies of state government beyond the state health department. You can reach the State of Illinois web site directly or through the site for the Illinois Department of Public Health (this is generally true for other states, as well; the URL for a state is usually "http://www.state.stateinitials.us"....for Illinois this would be http://www.state.il.us/).
Review the case study Snow on Cholera: Part 2 and describe the extent to which Snow’s activities in battling cholera in the 1850s reflect the public health functions characterized in the Institute of Medicine's identification of 3 core functions of public health.
In what ways will MAPP differ from APEXPH in terms of assisting local health agencies in carrying out public health's core functions?
Are national performance standards for public health needed? What might such standards accomplish?
The Chicago Department of Public Health has asked for your advice as to whether they should enhance, maintain, or transfer (to either the private or public sector) their current clinical service activities. How would you approach this charge and what advice would you give? Why??
You are the administrator of a typical county-based local health department in a Midwestern state. Your newly elected county board president has ordered you to develop new health-related initiatives that will improve the health of the county's residents. How would you approach this charge?
(Exercises 7 and 8 are based on Kristine Gebbie's case study entitled "Building a Constituency for Public Health.") In what ways were the core functions not being addressed at the time Gebbie became state health director in Oregon?
Which public health core functions were most strengthened or improved through constituency building efforts in this case study?
Each group will submit a brief response (300 words or less) for the following exercise:
Top 10 List: Now that you have seen some examples and have worked on refining them, it is now your turn to develop a "Top 10" list for this part of the text. Your list should include the most important lessons, themes, or concepts from Chapter 5. These are to be presented in a single sentence and ranked from most important (#1) on down to the tenth most important (#10). Each team will submit its response.
In addition, each group should begin Public Health
Practice Exercise 2. Completion of this exercise extends over the material
covering Chapters 5 through 7 of the textbook.
This is a compendium of additional references and web links to selected sources cited in the readings. Also included are selected materials that have become available since the publication date of the textbook.
American Public Health Association. Guide to Implementing Model Standards: Eleven Steps Toward a Healthy Community.
American Public Health Association. Community Strategies for Health: Fitting in the Pieces.
Monardi F and Glantz SA. Are Tobacco Industry Campaign Contributions Influencing State Legislative Behavior? AJPH 1998;88:918-923. (Abstract)
Public Health Functions Project. Public Health Functions Web Site.
Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships (MAPP). NACCHO, 2000.
National Public Health Performance Standards Program. CDC Public Health Practice Program Office, 2000.
Turnock BJ and Handler AS. From Measuring to Improving Public Health Practice. Annual Review of Public Health 1997;18:261-282. (Abstract)
Turnock BJ, Handler AS, Miller CA. Core Function-Related Local Public Health Practice Effectiveness. Journal of Public Health Management & Practice 1998;4(5):26-32.
University of Washington School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Northwest Center for Public Health Practice. "The Invisible Safety Net: Part 3"--a CDC-funded video describing public health and its core functions. Seattle WA; 1994. (To view and hear this video clip you will need a sound card on your computer and the RealVideo player which is available for free from http://www.real.com)
A brief self-assessment quiz is available by clicking on Quiz
5.
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