PubHealth Exam 1 Notes PDF

Chapter 1 Three core functions of public health: -​ Assessment: The way a public health agency collects, organizes, analyzes, and makes available information about the health of a community -​ Policy development: Using scientific knowledge to develop a strategic approach to enhanc...

Chapter 1 Three core functions of public health: -​ Assessment: The way a public health agency collects, organizes, analyzes, and makes available information about the health of a community -​ Policy development: Using scientific knowledge to develop a strategic approach to enhance the community’s wellbeing -​ Assurance: Making sure essential health services are available for all Prevention levels: -​ Primary prevention: Preventing exposure to risk factors (example: warnings on cigarette packs) -​ Secondary prevention: Minimize severity of illness or damage from an event. (example: smoking cessation program) -​ Tertiary prevention: Reduce disability by providing medical care and rehabilitation (example: assisted living) Life expectancy: -​ Life expectancy of Americans has increased from 45 to 79.25 years since the year 1900: approximately 5 years can be attributed to medical care, the rest to improvements in public health Medical care vs Public health: -​ Medical care focuses on helping those already ill or injured -​ Public health focuses on preventing illnesses or injuries before they happen Controversy: -​ Taxpayer money is spent -​ Loss of liberty -​ Religious/moral opposition -​ Costs vs benefits -​ Those paying do not always benefit Branches/Divisions: -​ Epidemiology: Using statistics to assess the health of populations, often examining outbreaks of disease -​ Biomedical sciences: Biological basis of health (e.g., genetics, infectious diseases, and molecular approaches to treatment) -​ Environmental health science: preventing spread of disease through water, air, and food -​ Social and behavioral science: Study of human circumstances and behavior -​ Health services research: Effectiveness, efficiency, and quality of healthcare Chapter 2 Social determinants of health: -​ The social determinants of health are the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age. These circumstances are shaped by the distribution of money, power and resources at global, national and local levels 3 Components of socioeconomic status: -​ Education -​ Income -​ Occupation Life course perspective: -​ How behavioral, biological, psychosocial, and environmental factors influence the circumstances and health of individuals across the life course. -​ Health not only due to current behaviors and genetics, but accumulated experiences over time. Voluntary -​ “lifestyle choices” impacted by these circumstances Social Ecological Model: -​ Individual: Biology, behavior, attitudes, beliefs -​ Interpersonal (social): Social networks, social ties, social norms -​ Institutional (organizational): Characteristics of workplace, school, place of worship, clubs and organizations to which you belong -​ Community (neighborhood): Physical, economic, retail, and social environment -​ Policy (society): Rules and regulations that impact behavior and the distribution of resources Impacts of stress: -​ Health habits -​ Wear-and-tear on body systems -​ Chronic exposure to stressful situations increases allostatic load, or the cumulative physiological wear and tear on the body due to stress Health belief model: -​ The health belief model states that the following determine when a person will change a behavior -​ Extent to which individual feels vulnerable to the threat -​ Perceived severity of the threat -​ Perceived barriers to taking action to reduce the risk -​ Perceived effectiveness of taking action to prevent or minimize the problem Mechanisms to promote change: -​ Education: Informing the public about healthy behavior -​ Regulatory approach: Creating laws or regulations to change behaviors -​ Social norms approach: educates people on other’s behaviors to encourage healthy behavior in the target population Chapter 3.1 Maternal mortality: -​ The death of women while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy (related to the pregnancy, does not include accidental or incidental death) Infant mortality: -​ Death of an infant before their first birthday Racial disparities: -​ Black people are the most likely victims of maternal mortality Three leading causes in infant mortality: -​ Congenital abnormalities -​ Preterm birth -​ Sudden infant death syndrome Contraceptives: -​ Hormonal (Depo-Provera, oral contraceptives) -​ Barriers (male and female condoms, diaphragm, cervical cap) -​ Chemical (spermicide cream or jelly) -​ Intra-Uterine Device -​ Male vasectomy or Female sterilizations -​ There has been a substantial reduction in teen pregnancy since the 90s, but still higher than most high-income countries