Discussion 2: Factors That Impact Population Health

NURS 8310 Discussion 2: Factors That Impact Population Health

Discussion 2: Factors That Impact Population Health

The most recent public health initiative is the COVID-19 vaccination. A public health initiative is something that countries use to make public leaders aware of certain health practices. During a pandemic such as the one we face now with COVID-19 there are going to be plenty of health initiatives. Some examples from the begining of the pandemic include: social distancing, wearing face mask and hand hygiene. In order for a health practice to take place it has to be seen and suggested. We started seeing social distancing signs, increased hand sanitizer stations and masks. First there is the suggestion before it becomes a guideline. After increasing cases and increasing seriousness of the situation. Leaders began to step in and create guidelines that needed to be follow. A shut down and mask mandate occured within the first year of the pandemic. The rush to develop a vaccine quickly started. All of these things were public health initiatives to keep the public safe. “Public health experts, economists, social scientists, and bioethicists must work jointly to assist governments in developing interventions that protect the overall societal well-being.” (Escandon, Rasmussen, Bogoch, Murray, Escandon, Popescu & Kindrachuk, 2021)

The cultural factors related to this health initiative is whether or not is relates to the ideas of society. Every person has different views and ideas related to health practices. Each person has different political and legislative views as well. With this pandemic and the initiatives that came with it, we have seen that first hand. The constant question related to the vaccine. Is it ethical and is it legal? There are many players involved in the legislative process. “Advocacy is a key element of policymaking, which can, and has been, used to advance population health efforts.” (Nash, Skoufalos, Fabius * Oglesby, 2001) The current legislation wold most likely positively effect the pandemic in regards to making things safe for the public and bringing and end to the pandemic. COVID continues to evolve and mutate which is causing the decision making to be harder when it comes to the wellbeing of the public.

Escandón, K., Rasmussen, A. L., Bogoch, I. I., Murray, E. J., Escandón, K., Popescu, S. V., & Kindrachuk, J. (2021). COVID-19 false dichotomies and a comprehensive review of the evidence regarding public health, COVID-19 symptomatology, SARS-CoV-2 transmission, mask wearing, and reinfection. BMC infectious diseases, 21(1), 710. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-021-06357-4

Nash, D. B., Skoufalos, A., Fabius, R. J. & Oglesby, W. H.  (2021). Policy and advocacy. In Population health: Creating a culture of wellness (3rd ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Public Health Institue, (n.d) PHIs Communities Rise Awarded $10 million for COVID-19 Equity Work form US Department of Health and Human Services. Retireved from https://www.phi.org/press/hhs-provides-66-5-million-to-expand-community-based-outreach-efforts-to-increase-covid-19-vaccinations/

Week 11 Main Post DQ2 Attachment
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Initiatives are vital to public health, providing information of disparities in the community. As proposals are presented, they have more than a few variables to consider, in its development. The purpose of this entry is to explore a public health initiative retrieved from the CDC website analyze variables related to and evaluate current health legislation of the initiative.

“Prevention Through Design: https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/ptd/default.html”

A current public health initiative presented by the Center of Disease Control (CDC) called Prevention Thought Design, aims to

Discussion 2 Factors That Impact Population Health

Discussion 2 Factors That Impact Population Health

occupational grievances, ailments, and casualties through functional design. NIOSH (n.d.) positions that “PtD encompasses all of the efforts to anticipate and design out hazards to workers in facilities, work methods and operations, processes, equipment, tools, products, new technologies, and the organization of work. The focus of PtD is on workers who execute the designs or have to work with the products of the design. The initiative has been developed to support designing out hazards, the most reliable and effective type of prevention” (The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health [NIOSH], n.d., Defining PtD section). This initiative provides support on a national level.

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Culturally, this initiative is sans bias. Ethical considerations for this initiative will have to consider the working class of physical workers. The approach that will be used to develop and implement the PtD National Initiative will be framed by industry sector and within four functional areas: Research, Education, Practice, and Policy (NIOSH, n.d., Approach section). Legally, the initiative’s goal is to protect workers thought he use of science, to prevent injuries. I am unsure, but not surprised, of the legal factors that may be presented for this population. Participants in a culture of health and wellness pursue and achieve higher levels of health and wellness than the general population does (Nash et al., 2021, p. 276). Unfortunately, this program is not applied to healthcare workers.

Current legislation for occupational health hazards in Virginia is managed by Virginia Occupational Safety and Health (VOSH). VOSH (n.d.) positions “VOSH is responsible for the enforcement of occupational safety and health standards; Compliance officers inspect workplaces for hazardous conditions and issue citations where violations of VOSH regulations are found; Inspections may be the result of regular scheduling, imminent danger reports, fatalities, and worker complaints or referrals” (Occupational and Safety Health Administration [OSHA], n.d., para. 11). This initiative focuses on general industry, construction, and agriculture only. This is a positive for that genre of work, less responsive for those that work outside of those parameters.

Factors that impact public health are abundant, yet there are proposals in place. Initiatives are developed to address the issues presented. From a national to state level, enterprises are born and grow with knowledge.

References

Nash, D. B., Skoufalos, A., Fabius, R. J., & Oglesby, W. H. (2021). Population health: Creating a culture of wellness (3rd ed.). Jones & Bartlett.

Occupational and Safety Health Administration. (n.d.). Virginia State Plan. www.osha.gov. https://www.osha.gov/stateplans/va

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. (n.d.). Prevention Through Safety. www.CDC.gov. https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/ptd/default.html

RE: Week 11 Main Post DQ2
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Laytoya, your post was very interesting to read because I had not heard about the Prevention Through Design program (NIOSH Public Safety Program, 2019). Eliminating safety hazards and focusing on the well-being of employees is certainly a worthwhile goal. Replacing tools and machinery that are outdated or worn can only benefit manufacturing worksites. Since work-related injuries and illnesses burden the economy with approximately $250 billion annually, ongoing investigation of work environments, safety measures already in place like fire extinguishers and hazard showers, and more efficiently designed workspace can only reduce the number of negative occurrences and reduce the cost of related instances.

In 2019, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released a report concerning the US hospitals’ work-related injury and illness status (Worker safety in hospitals, n.d.). It found that 5.5 of these events per 100 employees account for twice the rate in the whole of private industry. Injuries resulting from manual lifting of patients not only exposes the employees to sprains and severe pain from muscle overuse, but also puts patients at risk for falls resulting in fractures, bruises, and skin tears. This one fact alone compels the medical community to reassess protocols and provide mechanical aids for lifting and rolling patients in bed. My personal experiences also include trash collection delays, unpacked supplies, and equipment improperly returned to storage. I agree that we need a CDC monitored Prevention Through Design program instituted as quickly as possible.

 References

NIOSH Public Safety Program. (2019). In CDC. Retrieved from

  https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2019-169/default.html

Worker safety in Hospitals. (n.d.). In United States Department of Labor. Retrieved from

https://www.osha.gov/hospitals

This is a great work on the National Action Plan (NAP) for combating Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis (MDR-TB). MDR-TB is an increasing global security risk. Global economy and health systems are likely to suffer because of huge financial burden for treatment of MDR-TB and the load that it places on health care providers, settings, and health systems (Kendall et al., 2017). The implementation of NAP focuses on the efforts by the government of the United States and its partners within the legal framework. The efforts entail implementation of new and available technological and scientific tools, evidence, experience, and proficiency gained from years of addressing TB in the U.S and globally. Essentially, the effort of NAP in addressing MDR-TB is not merely a commitment or budget document. There are various legislative factors that guide various activities in the NAP. For instance, the Congress is expected to legislate on budgetary issues and other approvals, including balancing of priorities and existing resources in developing annual budget (Samal, 2018).

References

Kendall, E. A., Azman, A. S., Cobelens, F. G., & Dowdy, D. W. (2017). MDR-TB treatment as prevention: The projected population-level impact of expanded treatment for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. PloS one, 12(3), e0172748. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0172748

Samal, J. (2018). Health System and Policy Perspectives of Multidrug-resistant Tuberculosis (MDR-TB) Control in India. Journal of Development Policy and Practice, 3(1), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1177/2455133317740448