Public Health and Health Care Paper

Running Head: Public Health and Health Care Paper
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Public health agencies have fundamental role in delivery of basic public health. Typically, they deal with populations and groups of people. Their basic responsibility is increasing life expectancy by influencing healthy behaviors and ensuring health promotion through education and through other teams in the community. This paper describes how public health agency operates and the reasons why they are very crucial in provision of public health.
Specific roles of public health agents includes; Identifying the health needs of the population, planning and implementing programs that promote healthy living such as immunization and screening programs, and also working with other teams to address threats to healthy living such as environmental pollution. In addition, public health agents assist in identifying and addressing healthy issues that affect employees and their employers in work places and also where necessary prevent and control chronic diseases, injuries and the infectious diseases (Tancredi, L. R. 2002). Public health agents offer an assisting hand in preparation and respond to public health emergencies for instance the outbreak of a calamity in a given region like cholera. This ensures a prolonged life expectancy among populates in the world as a whole. Health agencies are concerned with promoting health and safety in the work place. They put in place control measures and procedures to ensure welfare and health of workers are maintained at norm. They also give recommendations on how to avoid accidents in the organization. For instance, they provide the rules and regulations to the workers and also ensure that minimal accidents that may be felt in the working environment are minimized (Helen J. Muller, C. V. 2006).
Occupational Health Program
Occupational health and safety is an area which is concerned with protecting the safety, health and welfare of people in working place. The goal of this program is to ensure safety in the working environment. Most countries have their own government public health agencies, sometimes known as ministries of health. The focus of public health is to prevent rather than treat diseases and promotion of health behaviors. According to American Public Health Association (2004), the main goal of public health is to improve lives through the prevention and treatment of disease.
Occupational health program ensures that there is provision of smoking deterrent programs and support. It also promotes screening services for diseases such as breast cancer, better lifestyle through exercises and good diets, management of mental health in work place e.g. through stress management programs and provision of counseling and referral services and also promotion of drug and alcohol prevention program. The agencies are mandated to appropriate action whenever the organization put their employees in hazardous health situation CITATION Gre05 \l 1033 (Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Health Committee, , 2005). For instance, the public health agency is required to formulate regulations which must be adhered to by the employers and which empowers the employee to demand that the regulations be followed. For example when an employee embarks on a risky project, he is empowered to demand all the required protective gear to avoid injuries (American Public Health Association, 2004).
Public health workers
1. Nurses
Nurses have immense contribution towards improving the health of the public. The...