Top Five Public Health Trends

   

Susan Wride

Health 100

 

    I called Rachelle Winslow (RN, BSN) in the infant medical service unit at Primary Children's Hopsital, because I am interested in working with infants and I thought that it would be interesting to get my information from her perspective.

     The first Public Health trend that Rachelle mentioned was that many people are not getting vaccinated. In 1998, there was a report about how vaccinations are linked to autism, so many people stopped vaccinating their children. Since then, the study has been proven to be false, but many people still refuse to let their children get vaccinated. This is a problem because many preventable diseases are showing up in young children. This could also be a problem because diseases that were almost eradicated may start showing up more frequently.

            The second trend she mentioned was obesity. Along with a lot of other problems, obesity leads to heart disease-the number one killer in America. In our busy lives today, many of us do not have time to plan healthy meals. In some households, eating vegetables is a rare occasion. This is a widespread problem in our society that can be prevented with nutrition, lifestyle, and exercise education.

            Smoking is the third Public Health trend Rachelle mentioned. Smoking is a big problem for youth and adolescents. More than 80 percent of smokers started before they were 18. This is one behavior that can lead to other risky behaviors such as drugs. Although our nation is more focused on tobacco education than it used to be, there is still room for improvement.

            Rachelle stated that a big Public Health problem that she noticed was a lack of services for immigrants. Many families have come to America seeking a better life, but many of them do not have health insurance. Since healthcare today is so expensive, many of them cannot afford to go to the doctor for problems they are experiencing. Since these problems are not being taken care of, they escalate into bigger issues. Better and more affordable clinics need to be built for the uninsured or underinsured.

            Lastly, the lack of preventive care is a Public Health problem. For example, someone who has high blood pressure problems and doesn’t exercise, diet, and get appropriate medical care could end up having a heart attack. This would be far costlier than the preventive measures that one could have taken. It is far better to prevent a problem than to try to treat it. The new healthcare law has made more preventive care available to more people.