Roles and Functions of Public Health in the Community

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1 The role of public health in the community is to promote the health, security, and protection of the human population from different hazards in the environment, including infectious illnesses. Public health is also involved in promoting the accessibility of safe and quality care that will improve lifestyles, injury prevention, and research.
2 The five core functions of public health are the following: prevent epidemics and disease spreading; assure quality and accessibility of medical services; protect against environmental hazards; respond to catastrophe and aid in community rehabilitation; promote and encourage injury prevention and good health behaviors (FDHU.org., n.d). The functions that are related to disease investigation and prevention are health status monitoring, investigation, and diagnosis of health issues, and enforcing regulations that protect health and ensure safety (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, n.d.).
3 Endemic – a condition that is specific to a country or people (ex. Malaria in Africa)
Outbreak – elevated number of endemic cases that is more than what was expected (ex. Ebola)
Epidemic – an outbreak that spreads and affects different communities (ex. obesity)
Pandemic – global epidemic (ex. COVID-19) (Grennan, 2019).
4 A case definition is a standard set of criteria that classifies whether a person has a certain illness. It is like a checklist of clinical presentation that is used to investigate the presence of a specific illness or disease.
5 A case report requires basic information about the patient such as name, age, gender, address, and diagnosis. This also includes the date of the report, the basis for diagnosis, and the date of onset of the symptoms.
6 Five mandated reportable diseases are COVID-19, HIV infection, Dengue infections, poliomyelitis, and cholera.
7 The department of public health can be contacted through public service phone numbers, email, or by directly going to the department headquarters.
8 The total number of recorded COVID-19 positive cases in the United States is 33,193,680 with a total death toll of 594,802 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, n.d). The percentage of the population that was affected by the pandemic in the United States is one of the highest in the world.
9 Some of the reasons that the COVID-19 spreads so quickly are poor ventilation in closed spaces, close-contact encounters with people, and crowded places.
Case Scenario
1 COVID-19 viral infection present with common symptoms namely, fever, fatigue, and dry cough. In addition to these, COVID-19 infected patien...