Public Health – Heightening Awareness and Modifying Health Behavior

Public Health – Heightening Awareness and Modifying Health Behavior

What is the area for action that you feel is most important for public health preparedness?

The area of action I believe is the most fundamental for public health preparedness is the response to disasters and emergencies. Disasters are defined as pressing, sudden, and catastrophic events that have the potential to cause great property destruction and loss of lives, which can run into billions of lives. These events can be social, technological, or natural in origin. Natural disasters occur naturally and are unavoidable, including things like tsunamis, flu pandemics, drought, flooding, hurricanes, and so on. According to a report archived in the CNN Library (2019), an excellent example is Hurricane Katrina, which hit New Orleans in 2005, resulting in 1833 deaths and $161 billion in damages. Technological disasters are usually associated with human activities, such as breakage, malfunction, or misuse of technology, which results in pollution of the environment by infectious or toxic materials. They include things like radiation leaks, toxic spills, or unintentional spread of extremely infectious pathogens. Social disasters are associated with events such as terrorism, war, and riots.

Why might each of the other dimensions be slightly less important?

I believe other dimensions, such as mental illnesses and physical and social well-being, are slightly less important because they cause fewer deaths and less financial impact than natural disasters. It is also important to note that public health should primarily focus more on preparing for natural disasters than other dimensions because these events are inevitable today, considering the changing weather, climate, and environment, perhaps because of heightened global warming. As such, episodes of rising water levels, drought, floods, and hurricanes have increased in number. According to Dryce (2005) of National Geographic, there have been more than 20 costly hurricanes in the U.S. since 2005, including Hurricane Dennis, Hurricane Maria, and Hurricane Rita. Also, terrorism and inter-border conflicts have increased in recent years, causing loss of lives and great financial impact.

References

CNN Library. (2019, Oct 31). Hurricane Katrina statistics fast facts. CNN, https://edition.cnn.com/2013/08/23/us/hurricane-katrina-statistics-fast-facts/index.html

Dryce, W. (2015). Ten years of hurricanes and tropical storms in one graphic. National Geographic, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/08/140829-ten-years-of-hurricanes-tropical-storms-graphic/

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Heightening Awareness and Modifying Health Behavior

Read the module Home page and required readings. Read through this assignment, the instructions, and the Assignment Expectations.

In her commentary, “The Global Dimensions of Public Health Preparedness and Implications for US Action,” Moore (2012) points out that Public Health is truly a global issue, and she discusses what that means for us here in the US in terms of our need for preparedness. She suggests four areas for action: 1) sensitize practitioners to the global nature of diseases, 2) learn from the success of other countries, 3) US Investment in Global Health, and 4) act locally on global issues.

Instructions

Your assignment is to write an essay in which you select the single area that you feel to be the most important for public health preparedness. Justify your position.

You can submit your paper in a Question and Answer format. In other words, list the questions and provide a short answer to each.
1. What is the Area for Action that you feel is most important for public health preparedness? (Please write 1 paragraph maximum here)

Hint: you will need to conduct your own scholarly research for information on the topic. For example, enter The Online Library and enter search terms, such as “Public Health Preparedness.” Be sure to check the box to limit your search to full-text access.
2. Why might each of the other dimensions be slightly less important? Be sure to cite sources rather than simply stating your opinion.