April 2-8 designates National Public Health Week. This year’s theme is “Changing Our Future
Together,” which reflects the mission of public health in general.
People often ask, “What is public health?” Unless they have a need to access our
services, many people have no idea what we do!
Here’s an attempt at explaining it:
Everyone deserves to live a long and healthy life in a safe
environment. To make this happen, we must tackle the causes of poor health and
disease risk among individuals and within our communities. Where we live, work,
worship and play impacts each of use and can determine our health and how long
we live.
When we think about the word “health,” we typically
associate it with medical matters, so the definition of public health can seem
a little confusing. Unlike the practice of medicine in clinical settings—like a
doctor’s office or hospital—public health is not a one-on-one discipline, nor do
those in the field practice medicine.
Public health promotes and protects the health of people and
the communities where they live, learn, work and play.
While a doctor treats people who are sick, those of us
working in public health try to prevent people from getting sick or injured in
the first place. We also promote wellness by encouraging healthy behaviors,
such as our Adult Blood Draw clinics that offer affordable preventive care.
Public health focuses on improving and protecting community
health and well-being, with an emphasis on prevention among large groups of
people. Public health workers keep communities healthy through child wellness,
disease prevention, education, disaster relief, clean water, access to
healthcare, and much more.
Public health works to track disease outbreaks, prevent
injuries and shed light on why some of us are more likely to suffer from poor
health than others. The many facets of public health include speaking out for
laws that promote smoke-free indoor air and seatbelts, spreading the word about
ways to stay healthy and giving science-based solutions to problems.
Overall, public health is concerned with protecting the
health of entire populations. These populations can be as small as a local
neighborhood, or as big as an entire country or region of the world. Livingston County is our population, and we
are proud to have served the county for over 40 years.
Public health saves money, improves our quality of life,
helps children thrive and reduces human suffering.
Why is public health important?
Most of us rarely think about these roles until a crisis,
such as a devastating hurricane, captures our attention. But public health
officials work on a daily basis to keep people healthy and safe, locally and
around the world, by preventing disease and injury.
Public health initiatives such as vaccinations, family
planning, motor vehicle safety laws, and clean air and water policies have
increased life expectancy in the U.S. by nearly 30 years.
Public health connects us all.
Source: National Public Health Week, APHA
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