Principles of Public Health- The Mission, Core Functions and Ten Essential Services

1
Principles of Public Health-The Mission, Core
Functions and Ten Essential Services

• Virginia M. Dato MD MPH

2
Virginia M Dato MD MPH

• Board Certified - Residency Trained Public Health
  Physician
• Center for Public Health Practice, University of
  Pittsburgh, Graduate School of Public Health

3
Learning ObjectivesBy the end of the course the
student will be able to

• To understand the mission of public health
• To understand the core functions of public health
• To understand the 10 Essential Services of Public
  Health

4
Performance Objectives

• By the end of the course the student will be able
  to use the 10 Essential Services of Public Health
  to develop new solutions to current public
  health problems.

5

• When a committee of the Massachusetts
  legislature confidently asserted, on May 22, 1869
  that all governments since the time of Moses had
  made provision to protect the life and health of
  their people, the legislators affirmed a
  tradition of corporate responsibility for the
  welfare of their people.

From Public Health and the State - Changing Views
in Massachusetts, 1842-1936 - Barbara Gutman
Rosenkrantz Harvard University Press - 1972
6
The Future of Public Health - 1988

• The Committee for the Study of the Future of
  Public Health Reviewed the Status of Public
  Health in America
• Determined that Public Health was in disarray
• Articulated the Mission, Substance,
  Organizational Framework and the Three Core
  Functions of Public Health

7
Mission of Public Health

• The fulfillment of societys interest in assuring
  the conditions in which people can be healthy
  - (The Future of Public Health)

8
Substance of Public Health

• Organized community efforts aimed at the
  prevention of disease and promotion of health.
  It links many disciplines and rests upon the
  scientific core of Epidemiology (The Future of
  Public Health)

9
The Organizational Framework of Public Health

• Encompasses both activities undertaken within the
  formal structure of government and the associated
  efforts of private and voluntary organizations
  and individuals (The Future of Public Health)

10
Formal Structure of Government in the US

• Federal Government
• commerce
• funding
• national security
• State Government
• primary responsibility
• Local Government
• as delegated by the state

11
Core Functions

• Assessment
• Policy Development
• Assurance

12
Vision

• Healthy People in Healthy Communities

13
Mission

• Promote physical and mental health and prevent
  disease, injury, and disability.

14
The fundamental obligation of agencies
responsible for population-based health is to

• Prevent epidemics and the spread of disease
• Protect against environmental hazards
• Prevent injuries

15

• Promote and encourage healthy behaviors and
  mental health
• Respond to disasters and assist communities in
  recovery
• Assure the quality and accessibility of health
  services

16
The Ten Essential Services of Public Health
17
Assessment

• The Committee for the Study of the Future of
  Public Health recommends that every public
  health agency regularly and systematically
  collect, assemble, analyze, and make available
  information on the health of the community,
  including statistics on health status, community
  health needs, and epidemiological and other
  studies of health problems."

18
The Ten Essential Services - Assessment

• Monitor health status to identify community
  health problems
• Diagnose and investigate health problems and
  health hazards in the community
• Evaluate effectiveness, accessibility, and
  quality of personal and population-based health
  services

19
Policy Development

• "The committee recommends that every public
  health agency exercise its responsibility to
  serve the public interest in the development of
  comprehensive public health policies by promoting
  use of the scientific knowledge base in
  decision-making about public health and by
  leading in developing public health policy.
  Agencies must take a strategic approach,
  developed on the basis of a positive appreciation
  for the democratic political process"

20
The Ten Essential Services - Policy

• Inform, educate, and empower people about health
  issues
• Mobilize community partnerships to identify and
  solve health problems
• Develop policies and plans that support
  individual and community health efforts

21
Assurance

• "The committee recommends that public health
  agencies assure their constituents that services
  necessary to achieve agreed upon goals are
  provided, either by encouraging actions by other
  entities (private or public sector), by requiring
  such action through regulation, or by providing
  service directly.

22
Assurance Part 2

• The committee recommends that each public health
  agency involve key policy makers and the general
  public in determining a set of high-priority
  personal and community-wide health services that
  governments will guarantee to every member of the
  community. This guarantee should include
  subsidization or direct provision of
  high-priority personal health services for those
  unable to afford them."

23
The Ten Essential Services - Assurance

• Assure a competent public health and personal
  health care workforce
• Enforce laws and regulations that protect health
  and ensure safety
• Link people to needed personal health services
  and assure the provision of health care when
  otherwise unavailable

24
The Tenth Essential Service

• Impacts Assessment, Policy and Assurance
• Research for new insights and innovative
  solutions to health problems