Introduction to Healthcare and Public Health in the US: Public Health, Part 1
Audio Transcript
Slide 1
Welcome to Introduction to Healthcare and Public Health in the US: Public Health, Part 1. This is Lecture (c).
This component, Introduction to Healthcare and Public Health in the US, is a survey of how healthcare and public health are organized and services are delivered in the U.S.
Slide 2
The Objectives for Public Health, Part 1, are to:
· Discern the main differences and similarities between public and private health
· Delineate the historic timeline and achievements of public health in the US
· Define and discuss key terminology of public health
· Illustrate the general organization of public health agencies and public health data flow
· Evaluate and explain the impact and value of public health
Slide 3
This lecture discusses the impact and value of Public Health.
In the 20th century, public health made radical improvements to population health. The achievements include a significant increase in life expectancy, and similarly significant reductions in both infant and child mortality and in communicable diseases.
Slide 4
The improvements made by public health have become such a normal part of everyday life in the US that we are often not even aware of them. However, it is nearly impossible to spend a single day and not be affected by public health. This slide lists some examples of these public health achievements, including improvements in food safety, restaurant inspections, water quality and fluoridation, seatbelt use, removal of lead from gasoline, etc. Public health has a long and diverse record of working in the public interest, and that record is almost entirely positive.
Slide 5
The record of public health does have a sad and serious blotch upon it, which is its involvement as a partner in two syphilis studies which veered into unethical behavior. These were the infamous Tuskegee Study (1932-1972) and a Guatemala study of prisoners (1940’s). While only the Guatemala study involved deliberate infection of subjects, the Tuskegee Study became unethical when the new treatment penicillin was deliberately withheld from subjects after it became the recommended treatment in 1947. While the injustice of these studies must be both noted and remembered, it is important to also remember the enormous benefits of public health.
Slide 6
The CDC constructed a list of the top ten public health achievements in the 20th century: these are listed on this slide. From family services (improvements in hygiene, nutrition, and healthcare have reduced infant mortality 90% from the 1900 level, and reduced maternal mortality 99%) to safer workplaces (reduction in both diseases such as silicosis, and workplace injuries) and motor vehicle safety (think seat belts, child seats, motorcycle helmets), the US population has reaped enormous benefits from investment in public health.
Slide 7
A few more highlights of public health. As mentioned earlier in this unit, public health has significantly increased life expectancy. In fact, since 1900 the average life expectancy in the US has increased 30 years, and a startling 25 of those years are attributed to public health initiatives. As recently as 1958, two million people died annually from smallpox. In 1977, a dedicated public health initiative brought about worldwide eradication of this disease. And in the 1970’s, a huge majority (88%) of US children had elevated levels of blood lead, but by the 1990’s public health had reduced that percentage to only 4.4%.
Slide 8
Childhood illnesses used to be devastating to the population, but both medical progress and public health efforts have nearly eliminated deaths from illnesses such as measles, diphtheria, scarlet fever, and whooping cough. In fact, the long-standing battle against infectious diseases has been so successful that of the current leading causes of mortality, only two factors are NOT either chronic disease-related or injury-related factors.
Slide 9
The leading causes of mortality in 2007 illustrate the amazing success of communicable disease countermeasures. Of the top ten causes, only #8 (influenza and pneumonia) and #10 (septicemia) are caused (at least, to our current accepted knowledge) by infectious disease agents.
Slide 10
This concludes Public Health, Part 1, Lecture c. In summary, the radical yet often overlooked improvements which public health has made to population health are discussed. Included are some examples of amazing successes in communicable disease countermeasures.
Slide 11
This also concludes Public Health, Part 1.
In summary, the similarities and differences between public and private health were discussed. Criteria for assigning public health importance were explained. The history of public health in the US was reviewed with the help of some important historical highlights, including the creation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Some key terminology of public health was defined. The organization and funding of public health in the US was discussed. The roles of public health were discussed, and disease reporting and surveillance was used as an example.
The radical yet often overlooked improvements which public health has made to population health were discussed. Included were some examples of amazing successes in communicable disease countermeasures.
Slide 12 Reference Slide, Lecture (c)
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Health IT Workforce Curriculum Introduction to Healthcare and Public Health in the US 1
Version 3.0/Spring 2012 Public Health, Part 1
Lecture c
This material (Comp1_Unit7c) was developed by Oregon Health and Science University, funded by the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology under Award Number IU24OC000015.