Public Health
Essay by mendaboots • October 28, 2013 • Essay • 384 Words (2 Pages) • 1,757 Views
The purpose of public health is to improve the health of
the public by promoting healthy lifestyles, preventing disease
and injury, and protecting the health of communities. In the
past, shrinking public health resources have supported personal
health services over community health. In public health
practice, the community is the population of interest. With
the proposed changes to health care financing, the personal
health care system will be under increasing pressure to provide
the services that health departments previously provided.
Traditionally served by public health, the most vulnerable
populations will pose tremendous challenges for private health
care providers. Public health will be responsible for partnering
with private providers to care for these populations.
Providing population-based care requires a dramatic shift
in thinking from individual-based care. Some of the practical
demands of population-based care are the following:
1. It must be recognized that populations are not homogeneous;
therefore it is necessary to address the needs of
special subpopulations within populations.
2. High-risk and vulnerable subpopulations must be identified
early in the care delivery cycle.
3. Nonusers of services often become high-cost users
4. Quality and cost of all health care services are linked
together across the health care continuum. (Kaiser Family
Foundation, 2010.)
Nurses in community and public health have an opportunity
to share their expertise regarding population-based
approaches to health care for groups of individuals across
health care settings. Today, health care practitioners require
additional skills in assessment, policy development, and
assurance to provide community public health practice and
population-based service. Health care professionals should
focus attention
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