Public Health

Margaret Loc

English 301
 Public Health 2

Public Health is an interdisciplinary study that

promotes health and disease prevention at a community

level. As well as global issues, public health is an

outreach that forms judgements about populations

through collecting data and statistics. A lot of academic

studies are gathered into public health, for example,

mental health, environmental health, epidemiology,

Figure 1 Five Essential Public Health behavioral health, and gender issues in health [10]. Public
Law Service [9]
s
health is used to promote the quality of life for a person, which in turn spreads throughout the

community and globally. This is done by educating individuals about the quality of living a

healthier life and reaching a more spiritual enlightenment. Public health can also be seen as the

roots of a tree, or foundation, to many different careers and responsibilities that grow from there.

Public health embodies a wide array of principles that branches out to help promote better living.

In addition to health care in a community scale, public health outreaches across the globe.

The public health’s objective is to aim towards a better living quality life including more

research and studies to create a solid foundation. Public health is considered a science, therefore,

creating markers and indicators for a variety of illnesses, injuries, and diseases for people

nationally and internationally to use. Some health indicators can be seen as characteristics an

illness may carry or how genetics and hereditary features can play some significant factors.

Screenings and preventative measures are then taken to prevent further impairment. Public health

not only deals with health of an individual but plays a vital role in the environment as well.

Pollution in regard to air and water also play into the public health categories.
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Contents
1. Etymology
2. Background
3. Levels of prevention
3.1 Primary Level
3.2 Secondary Level
3.3 Tertiary Level
4. Modern Public Health
4.1 Impact
5. References

Etymology
The term health has multiple roots, one of which from the Proto-Germanic hailitho,

meaning “whole, uninjured, of good omen”. Public is derived from the Latin word publicus “of

the people; of the state; done for the state,” also “common, general, public; ordinary, vulgar”.

[8][5]

Background
Sanitation plays a huge role in public health, due to the spread of bacteria and contact,

people in history have suffered due to the lack of knowledge. Public health prevents diseases and

promotes health on a community and global level. Using technology to indicate and manage

different cases, professionals are able to keep track of the past public health case studies. There

are three levels of prevention that were created to indicate the issue. These markers are used to

indicate the different risk stages an individual can be in and are used to create interventions and

preventions. Beginning at the primary level, the secondary level, and the tertiary level. These
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levels of prevention and used universally to determine the amount of care needed for an

individual.

Levels of Prevention

Primary Level
The primary level of prevention

is the first line of defense as an

indicator. It is used to determine if a

relatively healthy person is

Figure 2 Levels of Prevention [6] susceptible to an oncoming illness or disease.

Primary level of prevention is used to deter an illness by educating the public and promoting a

healthier life style. Washing your hands frequently decreases an individual’s chances of

contracting and spreading an illness. In a workshop titled “CDC/AHA Workshop on

Inflammatory Markers and Cardiovascular Disease: Applications to Clinical and Public Health

Practice” a meeting was gathered to address the issues regarding the markers or indicators for

early onset heart disease. Many believed that there was not enough viable evidence to determine

an individual risk before coming to terms with these five objectives:

1. Examining all possible sources of scientific data between “several inflammatory markers,

serum amyloid A, white blood cell count, fibrinogen, and cardio vascular disease” [3]

2. Identifying which is the best way to examine a person most at risk [3]

3. Identify persisting questions in order to create new research on inflammatory markers and

cardiovascular disease [3]

4. Recommending the tests needed to patients to be able to identify these markets [3]
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5. Applying and exploring these findings to the public and being able to associate the

evidence [3]

Secondary Level
The secondary level of prevention is classified as a second line of defense. Individuals who

have this illness or disease but being able to catch it in its earliest stages to minimize the severity

of it. Most screenings are considered a secondary intervention. A screening is a method to search

an individual’s body to see what is going inside of them. It is usually done through a medical

instrument that allows a health professional to look into a patient’s body without surgery. For

example, mammograms, cholesterol screenings, and heart screenings are preventative measures

to catch an incoming illness before it disables the individual.

Tertiary Level
The tertiary level of prevention is taken action when an individual is already disabled,

impaired, and dependent on others. Individual’s that show significant signs of distress or

symptoms of a disease are considered high risk. For example, having cancer that is hard to treat

because of the stage you are in. Some preventative measures taken at this stage is through

physical therapy and other rehabilitation methods to aid the individual from further impairment.

[6]

Public health uses medicine and research in preventing diseases. Some preventative measures

that have been taken were the campaigns to wash your hands to prevent the spread of different

illnesses, the dangers of secondhand smoking, raising awareness about suicide, and getting

regular checkups for sexually transmitted diseases. These initiatives have been to ensure the

safety of the public and diminish the likely risks of an epidemic.

Public Health
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Modern Public Health

Modern public health consists of professionals treating, researching, understanding, and

providing an outreach for individuals with a disease or illness. Additionally, public health is not

just limited to disease or illnesses spread by humans, but illness that are spread through the

environment. More developed countries have the advantage by geographical locations and the

money to supply. Developing countries are struggling for aid, and public health researchers are

there to focus on reducing environmental risk factors and prevent diseases there.

Air pollution, according to WHO, “results in 4.2 million deaths every year. Additionally,

3.8 million deaths are caused by household exposure to smoke from stoves and fuels, and 91% of

the world’s population lives in a place where air quality exceeds WHO guideline limits” [1].

WHO, the World Health Organization is an organization embodied by the UN (United Nations)

to play a role in helping communities environmentally and physically around the world. WHO’s

main functions are to combat infectious diseases that have the potential to spread around the

world and cause pandemics and began its research of the origins of diseases to enable them to

understand and combat it. Their roles involve leadership duties as well as creating policies to

help better communities. Promoting an implementing those policies are also a part of their jobs.

Public health servants are here to uphold and create policies for the better of the community and

this amount of work requires a variety of subcategories with different individuals with a

specialty. Idealistically, all with the same goals and intentions to promote individual wellness

and disease prevention.

Impact
Public health impacts the world in a variety of ways, like creating vaccines for illnesses,

creating a cleaner environment for humans to live in, and promoting self-care and mental health.
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Organizations like the World Health Organization, helps people across the globe and is

supported by the United Nations. On April 7, 1948, WHO entered the force in the efforts of

controlling diseases and over time, their agendas evolved into “shaping the research agenda and

stimulating the generation, translation, and dissemination of valuable knowledge” [9]. Learning

from mistakes and studying them, they were able to address these illnesses and other

environmental factors in a scientific way. WHO was able to spread their knowledge and research

with the world.

What’s Happening Now

The Ebola virus is a deadly virus that first

appeared in developing countries. But the

2014-2016 outbreak in West Africa was “the

largest and most complex Ebola outbreak

since the virus was first discovered” [4].

The virus is first introduced by animals to

Figure 3 Ebola Outbreak in West Africa [4].
humans and are able to spread through close contact throughout the population, which makes it

extremely hazardous. An outbreak of a deadly virus must be contained. Public health servants

developed indicators and resolutions to health situations such as these. Situations that are

harmful to the individual and the entire population. Controlling an outbreak is one of the first

steps to preventing the spread of a harmful disease. Additionally, preventing an illness is also as

significant as it impairs the illness from spreading and reduces the likelihood of another

outbreak. Public health is part of science that is mainly to serve for the humans and protect the

environment around them.

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References
1. Air pollution. (2018, August 29). Retrieved from http://www.who.int/airpollution/en/

2. Centers, (. C. (2013, December 13). Estimated influenza illnesses and hospitalizations

averted by influenza vaccination - United States, 2012-13 influenza season. Retrieved

from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24336131

3. Circulation. [online] Ahajournals.org. Available at:

https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1161/01.CIR.0000052939.59093.45 [Accessed

14 Sep. 2018].

4. Ebola virus disease. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.who.int/news-room/fact-

sheets/detail/ebola-virus-disease

5. Health (n.). (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.etymonline.com/word/health

6. McDowell, I., & University of Ottawa. (n.d.). Concepts: Prevention. Retrieved from

http://www.med.uottawa.ca/sim/data/Prevention_e.htm

7. Pearson, T., Mensah, G., Wayne Alexander, R., Anderson, J., Cannon, R., Criqui, M.,

Fadi, Y., Fortmann, S., Hong, Y., Myers, G., Rifai, N., Smith, S., Taubert, K., Tracy, R.

and Vinicor, F. (2003). Markers of Inflammation and Cardiovascular Disease |

8. Public (adj.). (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.etymonline.com/word/public#etymonline_v_44862

9. The Five Essential Public Health Law Services Project. (n.d.). Retrieved from

http://publichealthlawresearch.org/content/five-essential-public-health-law-services-

project

10. What are the main functions of the World Health Organization? (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.e-ir.info/2010/11/08/what-are-the-main-functions-of-the-world-health-

organization/
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11. Writers, S. (n.d.). Public Health Careers - Explore Your Options. Retrieved from

https://www.publichealth.org/careers/
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Postwrite

Using Markel’s one-sentence definition, I integrated the term “Public Health” in a more

general audience definition. Public health is a phrase that people often know and understand, but

difficult to put into your own words. So, I put it into a category, which was an interdisciplinary

study, and added a characteristic of it. I believe that a communal engagement, preventative

disease, and promoting health embodies what public health is. Using an analogy, I compared

public health as the roots of a tree that help others grow and other categories have branched out

from there, it can be found at the first paragraph of my definition on page 3. Additionally, I

partitioned the different types of levels of prevention in my paper to help define what it is under

my “levels of prevention” topic in page 4.