Prepare 2 different responses to the discussion below. Must use 3 scholarly sources (one of the sources must come from the book titled “Navigating the U.S. Healthcare system” by Nancy J. Niles.
This discussion is designed to identify the core public health functions of assessment, policy, and assurance and their role in public health organizations. Public health is defined as “the overall health and safety of the U.S. population achieved by preventing disease, monitoring, regulating, and promoting health” (Niles, 2018). The Institute of Medicine (IOM) states that the three core public health functions of public health are assessment, policy development, and assurance (1988), consisting of 10 essential public health services. Assessment includes the assessment and monitoring of health status as well as the investigation and diagnosis of public health problems and hazards affecting the population. Policy development includes communication to inform and educate people about health, strengthening communities to improve health, policy implementation that impacts health, and the utilization of legal actions to improve and protect public health. Assurance involves equitable access healthcare, diversity and skill amongst the healthcare workforce, innovation through evaluation, research, and quality improvement, finally the development and maintenance of a strong public health infrastructure (CDC, 2021).
The rapidly changing environment and climate changes pose significant issues globally and locally by exacerbating health disparities, negatively affecting vulnerable populations, and altering the determinants of health. So much so, that climate change has been identified as a key priority for The World Health Organization (WHO), The UN Environment Program (UNEP), The United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) (Jagals and Ebi, 2021). More specifically, Ciesielski links climate change to increased disease, decreased potable water supply, increase heat-related deaths, and increased virility of disease carrying insects (2017). The implementation of core public health functions is evident in the US CDC Climate and Health Program (CHP) dealing with climate change. CHP has made developments towards changing climate through the “Building Resilience Against Climate Effects” (BRACE) assessment framework and continues to be employed as a guide to developing policy for the challenges of climate change. Assessment involves monitoring and investigation of climate sensitive outcomes and health impacts. Policy development covers informing and educating, creating partnerships, and the development of health policies that support climate change mitigation and adaptation. Finally, assurance involves enforcing laws, providing care, assuring a competent workforce, and evaluating climate-related health interventions (Fox et al., 2019).
Although these are but a few organizations, public health functions play an integral role in public health organizations globally. Conducting health assessment and treatment, implementing policy development, and providing equitable assurance across the spectrum of the population provide the necessary framework for population health.
