Abstract:
Chapter 5 mainly focused on the structure of a community and how a community can change. The chapter began with a summarizing of how a community is built and how they organize. It then goes into detail about the actual organization that takes place to help a community stay together. Chapter 5 looks at the issues that might arise when building a community and how to recover or prevent those particular problems. If a problem arises, there are certain steps that a community needs to take to solve it. There are numerous steps that need to be taken to help resolve the problem. The chapter then explains the process about organizing, assessing, and determining priorities and setting goals. The chapter used examples of programs such as, Healthy Cities/Healthy communities, PATCH (planned approach to community health), and MAPP (mobilizing for action through planning and partnerships) to assist in showing how a community should work. Each program is design to target certain aspects of a community. The chapter ends with looking further into goal setting and assessing the goals the community already has in place. It explained the intervention that must take place to help treat problems within the community.
Reflection:
Our group was very interested in the final couple pages of the chapter. We found it interesting to see all of the prevention techniques that a community has put in place in case of an incident. We all could relate to the chapter in some way or another because every community that we've come from has had to implement some sort of intervention.
We also found it really intriguing to see that every aspect of a community went under evaluation or assessment. First the community would plan, collect data, analyze, report, and then apply the results. Our group thought that this type of evaluation was sort of a necessity to any community. In a community your suppose to have the option of revising or editing so we liked that they addressed this aspect of the community in the chapter.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Chapter 4 abstract and reflection.
Chapter 4 continued the discussion of epidemiology. It went more in depth in describing how diseases are classified and methods used to prevent and control health conditions. The public often identifies diseases by organ or organ systems (kidney disease, heart disease, respiratory infections) or by the agent causing the disease weather it be biological, chemical, or physical. Community health usually classifies disease by saying they are acute or chronic, or as being communicable or noncommunicable.
Acute diseases come and go within three months or less and chronic diseases have symptoms much longer and sometimes can last a persons entire life. Communicable disease are infectious and can be transmitted from one person to another and noncommunicable disease can not. Communicable disease are best understood by the communicable disease model. The model illustrates that for a disease to spread there must be an agent(the cause of the problem), a host(the susceptible organism), and an environment(any other factor to promote the transmission). Since noncommunicable disease can not be transmitted from person to person they can be caused by many things at once which is shown best by the multicausation disease model. This model shows that factors outside an individual such as; the environment, health care systems, economics, air pollution, water quality, and infectious disease outbreaks, mixed with ones personality, beliefs, and behavorial choices, and their genes all contribte to the occurance of noncommunicable disease.
The other part of the chapter that was really emphasized was about prevention, intervention and control. Control is the term used to refer to reducing transmission of communicable diseases since only small pox has ever been totally eradicated. Prevention is action taken before the occurance of a health condition and intervention is the action take after it is already evident. Prevention happens in stages, primary prevention happens before the disease precess begins, examples given were health education, safe housing projects, use of immunization, good personal hygiene, and the chloination of the community's water supply. If primary prevention is unsuccessful prompt intervention is next, also known as secondary prevention which is early diagnosis and treatment before diseases grow and become more severe, examples could be isolation, quarantine, and disinfection. Tertiary pervention is the rehabilitation for a patient.
One communicable disease that the book got in depth with was AIDS. This topic was our groups focus of connversation. The prevention and control of AIDS has been an ongoing project for health professionals. Healthy People 2010 has objectives focused at preventive mesures of AIDS one being to "increase the proportion of condom use by partners of sexually active unmarried females". When talking about the control of AIDS we looked at the chain of infection; the links of the chain represent the pathogen, the human reservoir, the portal of exit, transmission, the portal of entry, and the establishment of disease in new host. The book presented us with a prevention and control strategey for each link in reference to the AIDS virus. We also noted that the reservoir for HIV is the infected human population only, there are no known animal or insect reservoirs. Small pox, as mention early, is the only comminicable disease that has ever been eliminated completely in all of history and this was made possible simply because humans were the reseroir for the small pox virus as well. It strange to think that by knowing this similarity and by seeing that each step on the chain of infection has a control method we are still so far away from eradicating the disease. 944, 305 infected people were reported to the CDC through december 2004. If we would help ourselves by taking primary prevention actions seriously we could begin to reduce this number which is what Healthy People 2010 is trying to promote.
Acute diseases come and go within three months or less and chronic diseases have symptoms much longer and sometimes can last a persons entire life. Communicable disease are infectious and can be transmitted from one person to another and noncommunicable disease can not. Communicable disease are best understood by the communicable disease model. The model illustrates that for a disease to spread there must be an agent(the cause of the problem), a host(the susceptible organism), and an environment(any other factor to promote the transmission). Since noncommunicable disease can not be transmitted from person to person they can be caused by many things at once which is shown best by the multicausation disease model. This model shows that factors outside an individual such as; the environment, health care systems, economics, air pollution, water quality, and infectious disease outbreaks, mixed with ones personality, beliefs, and behavorial choices, and their genes all contribte to the occurance of noncommunicable disease.
The other part of the chapter that was really emphasized was about prevention, intervention and control. Control is the term used to refer to reducing transmission of communicable diseases since only small pox has ever been totally eradicated. Prevention is action taken before the occurance of a health condition and intervention is the action take after it is already evident. Prevention happens in stages, primary prevention happens before the disease precess begins, examples given were health education, safe housing projects, use of immunization, good personal hygiene, and the chloination of the community's water supply. If primary prevention is unsuccessful prompt intervention is next, also known as secondary prevention which is early diagnosis and treatment before diseases grow and become more severe, examples could be isolation, quarantine, and disinfection. Tertiary pervention is the rehabilitation for a patient.
One communicable disease that the book got in depth with was AIDS. This topic was our groups focus of connversation. The prevention and control of AIDS has been an ongoing project for health professionals. Healthy People 2010 has objectives focused at preventive mesures of AIDS one being to "increase the proportion of condom use by partners of sexually active unmarried females". When talking about the control of AIDS we looked at the chain of infection; the links of the chain represent the pathogen, the human reservoir, the portal of exit, transmission, the portal of entry, and the establishment of disease in new host. The book presented us with a prevention and control strategey for each link in reference to the AIDS virus. We also noted that the reservoir for HIV is the infected human population only, there are no known animal or insect reservoirs. Small pox, as mention early, is the only comminicable disease that has ever been eliminated completely in all of history and this was made possible simply because humans were the reseroir for the small pox virus as well. It strange to think that by knowing this similarity and by seeing that each step on the chain of infection has a control method we are still so far away from eradicating the disease. 944, 305 infected people were reported to the CDC through december 2004. If we would help ourselves by taking primary prevention actions seriously we could begin to reduce this number which is what Healthy People 2010 is trying to promote.
Chapter Three: Abstract & Reflection
Chapter Three: Abstract
Chapter 3 discussed epidemiology in detail. Epidemiology is sometimes referred to as population medicine. It can be defined as "the study of the distribution and determinants of health-related states or events in specified populations, and the application of this study to control health problems." What an epidemiologist is concerned with is determining the course of disease in a population and is defined as "an investigator who studies the occurrence of disease or other health-related conditions or events in defined populations."
The chapter discusses epidemics and endemic diseases. An epidemic is any unexpectedly large number of cases of an illness or health-related event, while an endemic disease is a disease that occurs in a population as a matter of course. Some examples of epidemics are the bubonic plague which first affects rodents, and West Nile fever virus which first affects birds. An epidemic that is widespread either around a continent or around the world is called a pandemic. There was an influenza pandemic of 1918 which spread simultaneously through Asia, Europe, and North America. A brief history of epidemiology includes the names of Hippocrates, De. Benjamin Rush, and John Snow. Incidence Rates are a measurement of the number of new cases of disease, injury, or death in a population over a given period of time. Prevalence rate measure all cases. An attack rate is a special kind of incidence rate used for a single outbreak. Cases of certain disease, called notifiable or reportable diseases, are reported by doctors, clinics, medical laboratories, and hospitals to local health agencies. These agencies then report them to state agencies, who then forward the data to the CDC. These reports assist epidemiologists who study disease trends. Lastly the chapter discussed the different types of studies used by epidemiologists including case/control studies, cohort studies, and experimental studies.
Chapter Three: Reflection
Upon discussing chapter 3 in class, the Great Team Eight found the chapter to be almost too much to digest. There was so much information and so many terms that it was hard to process, but after breaking it down, it became much clearer. One part of our discussion of the chapter covered the difficulty that epidemiologists must face when trying to get accurate data from surveys because people tend to lie while taking them. We reminisced back to high school when we all remembered taking the survey which asked us question about drug and alcohol use, study habits, guns, and many other things as well. We all recalled lying on the survey and not taking it seriously. We couldn't imagine the difficulty people must face when attempting to weed out the bogus surveys from the ones which were taken seriously. We discussed a lot of terms in class as well. We went over age-adjusted rates because we previously didn't know that they adjusted the age rate of populations in order to receive accurate data. Overall, we found the chapter very informative and although it contained a lot of terms to take in all at once, it's good that we are now familiar with them.
Chapter 3 discussed epidemiology in detail. Epidemiology is sometimes referred to as population medicine. It can be defined as "the study of the distribution and determinants of health-related states or events in specified populations, and the application of this study to control health problems." What an epidemiologist is concerned with is determining the course of disease in a population and is defined as "an investigator who studies the occurrence of disease or other health-related conditions or events in defined populations."
The chapter discusses epidemics and endemic diseases. An epidemic is any unexpectedly large number of cases of an illness or health-related event, while an endemic disease is a disease that occurs in a population as a matter of course. Some examples of epidemics are the bubonic plague which first affects rodents, and West Nile fever virus which first affects birds. An epidemic that is widespread either around a continent or around the world is called a pandemic. There was an influenza pandemic of 1918 which spread simultaneously through Asia, Europe, and North America. A brief history of epidemiology includes the names of Hippocrates, De. Benjamin Rush, and John Snow. Incidence Rates are a measurement of the number of new cases of disease, injury, or death in a population over a given period of time. Prevalence rate measure all cases. An attack rate is a special kind of incidence rate used for a single outbreak. Cases of certain disease, called notifiable or reportable diseases, are reported by doctors, clinics, medical laboratories, and hospitals to local health agencies. These agencies then report them to state agencies, who then forward the data to the CDC. These reports assist epidemiologists who study disease trends. Lastly the chapter discussed the different types of studies used by epidemiologists including case/control studies, cohort studies, and experimental studies.
Chapter Three: Reflection
Upon discussing chapter 3 in class, the Great Team Eight found the chapter to be almost too much to digest. There was so much information and so many terms that it was hard to process, but after breaking it down, it became much clearer. One part of our discussion of the chapter covered the difficulty that epidemiologists must face when trying to get accurate data from surveys because people tend to lie while taking them. We reminisced back to high school when we all remembered taking the survey which asked us question about drug and alcohol use, study habits, guns, and many other things as well. We all recalled lying on the survey and not taking it seriously. We couldn't imagine the difficulty people must face when attempting to weed out the bogus surveys from the ones which were taken seriously. We discussed a lot of terms in class as well. We went over age-adjusted rates because we previously didn't know that they adjusted the age rate of populations in order to receive accurate data. Overall, we found the chapter very informative and although it contained a lot of terms to take in all at once, it's good that we are now familiar with them.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Chapter One: Reflection
Chapter one gave a very descriptive overview of what the topic at hand, community health, actually is, which is to be expected from a book with "An Introduction To" in its title. It was a consensus in group eight, that learning the different factors that influence community health was incredibly helpful to understanding what community health embodies as a whole. We also agreed that these influencing factors are are pretty much a common theme among any community that aims to maintain any medium, or consistency in there health. As a group we were also overwhelmed at the number of people killed in the past by a sickness that is so easily curable today. Its impressive to see the advances that medical technology has made over the centuries, and encouraging to continue advancing our health knowledge in the future.
As the chapter went through its community health timeline, it was interesting to see how the planet dealt with crisis's that it did. The use of vaccinations, drugs, and prevention agencies, are what allows societies to live healthily today. If it wasn't for the advancement in our Nations health policies and medical offices, our nation would still be facing struggles and difficulties that it did centuries ago.
Healthy People 2010 is a perfect example of society continuing to make advancement in there health. Our group agreed that Healthy People 2010 is a very exciting plan that shows a lot of potential for success. The idea is going forces as an entire nations to create a better environment to live in, and should result in economical and social development, improvement in sanitation, and expansion of national health care.
As the chapter went through its community health timeline, it was interesting to see how the planet dealt with crisis's that it did. The use of vaccinations, drugs, and prevention agencies, are what allows societies to live healthily today. If it wasn't for the advancement in our Nations health policies and medical offices, our nation would still be facing struggles and difficulties that it did centuries ago.
Healthy People 2010 is a perfect example of society continuing to make advancement in there health. Our group agreed that Healthy People 2010 is a very exciting plan that shows a lot of potential for success. The idea is going forces as an entire nations to create a better environment to live in, and should result in economical and social development, improvement in sanitation, and expansion of national health care.
Chapter One: Abract
Chapter one began witha general overview of what the terms; health, community health, public health, and personal health are defined as. Comparing the four, and listing there differences and simalerities. The chapter then focused on the major affects and influences on community health, breaking them down into four factors; physical factors, cultural and social factors, community organization, and individual behavior.
After the initial description of the topic, the chapter progressed into the historical background of community health, providing examples as early as 500 BC. It discussed advances and struggles community health has faced through each time period, or era, that it has existed in. The destruction of small pox and black plague, and there effect on the world population; the discovery of micro bacterium and backterial inffections, use of vaccinations, and establishment of the CDC, DHS, Medicare, and Medicaid where are listed as significant events throught out the history of community health.
Next the chapter went into great detail discussing how most twenty first cenury societies are "inflicting pain on themselves". The chapter supported theory with precentages and facts comparing overall health of the nation, and overall health of each state seperatly. The chapter concluded with a description of Healthy People 2010, an ideal model of what our nations health should look like in the future, and
After the initial description of the topic, the chapter progressed into the historical background of community health, providing examples as early as 500 BC. It discussed advances and struggles community health has faced through each time period, or era, that it has existed in. The destruction of small pox and black plague, and there effect on the world population; the discovery of micro bacterium and backterial inffections, use of vaccinations, and establishment of the CDC, DHS, Medicare, and Medicaid where are listed as significant events throught out the history of community health.
Next the chapter went into great detail discussing how most twenty first cenury societies are "inflicting pain on themselves". The chapter supported theory with precentages and facts comparing overall health of the nation, and overall health of each state seperatly. The chapter concluded with a description of Healthy People 2010, an ideal model of what our nations health should look like in the future, and
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