Brittany Seawright
NUR/ 408
February 11, 2013
Beth Edwards
Comparison Paper
According to a report published in 1988 by the Institute of Medicine, public health was defined as “what we, as a society, do collectively to assure the conditions in which people can be healthy” (Stanhope & Lancaster, p. 7, 2012). The mission of public health was “to generate organized community effort to address the public interest in health by applying scientific and technical knowledge to prevent disease and promote health” (Stanhope & Lancaster, p. 7, 2012). The definition and mission of public health has not changed. “In the United States, the local-state-federal partnership includes federal agencies, the state and territorial public health agencies, and the 3200 local public health agencies” (Stanhope & Lancaster, p. 990, 2012). Healthy People 2020 and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are agencies of public health at the national level. The state health department is an agency of public health at the state and county levels. “The interaction of these agencies is critical to effectively leverage precious resources, both financial and personnel, and to protect and promote the health of populations” (Stanhope & Lancaster, p. 990, 2012).
History of Public Health
People who are born today can expect to live 30 years longer than those who were born in 1990 (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2012). Advocacy begun in the late 1910s, policymakers and social welfare representatives strived to constitute national health insurance (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2012). “In 1965 congress amended the Social Security Act to include health insurance benefits for older adults (Medicare) and increased care for the poor (Medicaid)” (Stanhope & Lancaster, p. 36, 2012). The Social Security Act did not cover preventive services, and home health care was only reimbursed with a doctors order (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2012). Local and state health
References: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2012). Our History - Our Story. http://www.cdc.gov/about/history/ourstory.htm South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control. (2012). Region 2 Public Health Office. Retrieved from http://www.scdhec.gov/health/region2/index.htm Stanhope, M., & Lancaster, J. (2012). Public Health Nursing: Population-Centered Health Care in the Community (8th ed.). (Elsevier, Ed.) Maryland Heights, Missouri: Mosby