The Three Core Functions of Public Health, Essay Example

Public health nursing is a complex and specialized form of nursing which deals with not only the health of individuals but the health of the overall community in which that individual lives.  This paper deals with the relationship between the three core functions and the ten essential services of public health and the interventions used to carry them out. It also gives an example of a public health problem and discusses the primary, secondary and tertiary public health interventions that can be used to help solve this problem.

The Intervention Wheel and its Relation to the Public Health Functions and Services

Public health rests on three core functions and ten essential services, and the Center for Disease Control provides an excellent layout of the relationship between the two.  In its Assessment Function, a public health institutions monitors and diagnoses issues that could affect the health of the community.  In its Development function, it should educate the community on health issues, involve the community in finding ways to solve those issues, and come up with policies to help support a healthier community.  In its Assurance function, it needs to enforce public health law, connect people with community resources, provide a professional workforce, evaluate health institutions and promote health research (Center for Disease Control, 2013, p.1). The Intervention Wheel helps to facilitate these functions and services by giving nurses a tool to determine which of the seventeen interventions on the wheel would be needed to help promote the public health, and the level of practice that will be called for:  interventions could possibly take place at the level of the individual, the community or the system (Wisconsin Department of Health, 2014, p.1).

Example of Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Interventions for Obesity in Missouri

According to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Missouri’s obesity rate lies at around 30% (Trust for America’s Health, 2012, p. 5), and this condition can lead to problems like cardiac disease and diabetes.  A primary intervention for this problem would be a program like WIC, which helps to prevent obesity to begin with by promoting nutrition for children. A secondary intervention could be programs like wellness fairs which screen people for things like BMI’s to help with early treatment of the condition if possible.  A tertiary intervention would be promoting weight loss programs to help restore individuals to a normal BMI (DeKalb County Board of Health, 2012, p. 6).

Conclusion

Public health nursing is complex and incredibly important. A good understanding of its services and functions, and of what interventions need to take place to promote these services and functions, can promote a greater understanding of this very specialized field of nursing.

References

Center for Disease Control. (2013) The Three Core Functions of Public Health and How They Relate to the 10 Essential Services.  Center for Disease Control Website.  Retrieved from www.cdc.gov/aceh/elislephi/core-ess.htm

DeKalb County Board of Health. (2012). Role of the Public Health Nurse.  DeKalb County Board of Health Website.  Retrieved from www.publichealthnursing.webs.com

Trust for America’s Health.  (2011). Missouri is the 11^th Most Obese State in the Nation. HealthyAmericans.org Website.  Retrieved from www.healthyamericans.org/Reports/Obesity/2011/release.php?state=missouri

Wisconsin Department of Health Services. (2014). Public Health Nursing: the Intervention Wheel. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services Website.  Retrieved from www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/phncl/InterventionWheel