Epidemiological surveillance is important to public health primarily because it prevents the spread of infectious or communicable diseases. By requiring healthcare providers to report cases classified as notifiable diseases, state and federal public health departments can monitor the trends of these diseases in real time. As a result, these departments can respond to an increase in a specific notifiable disease early to contain a would be epidemic. 2. Describe some actions that governments and public health organizations have taken to ensure that people are safer and healthier today than people were 100 years ago. (4 points)
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC) …show more content…
What are the three core functions (and a brief description of each) of public health? (2 points).
The three core functions of public health are:
1. Assessment- In assessment public health officials identify and investigate prevalent health issues in a community.
2. Policy development- In policy development public health officials work to educate and empower communities affected by the health issue. Policy development can also include working with law makers to implement policies that help combat the health issue.
3. Assurance- In assurance implemented policies are enforced to reduce the incidence and prevalence rate of health issues. Implemented interventions are also promoted and made accessible to the communities affected. This makes the community perceive a reliable and effective health department. Lastly, implemented laws, policies, or interventions are evaluated to determine their …show more content…
Explain the difference between primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention, including examples of each. (3 points)
The goal of primary prevention is to prevent a negative health outcome, such as a disease or injury from ever occurring at all. An example of primary prevention is getting the flu vaccine. The purpose of the vaccine is to virtually eliminate your risk of ever contracting the flu during that flu season.
Secondary prevention aims to reduce the severity of a negative health outcome once it has occurred. A mammography is an example of secondary prevention. This screening tests for early signs of breast cancer and aims to detect breast cancer to stop progression of the disease before symptoms even appear. If breast cancer is detected early, then intervention minimizes the severity of the cancer.
The last level of prevention, tertiary prevention, seeks to minimize disability because of a negative health outcome by providing medical care, treatment, or rehabilitation services. A patient undergoing physical therapy after a car collision that resulted in severe loss of motor function in the limbs is an example of tertiary prevention. It aims to minimize disability due to the car collision by helping the patient regain as much motor function as