Orientation to Public Health for Students September 2011 Welcome to - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Orientation to Public Health for Students

September 2011

Welcome to Public Health

This presentation will provide you with an overview of:

• What is public health
• Who works in public health
• What public health professionals do
• Foundational documents and resources that will help you to

work in public health

• Preceptorships in public health - Preceptor, student and

faculty roles

• What to expect in a public health placement

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What is public health?

• Watch you tube video clip – be mindful that it was made in

the USA so might be a little different than what we do here in Canada for public health. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bpu42LmLo4U

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What is public health?

S A R S

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How is public health different from acute care?

Acute care hospitals (Primary Care)

Focus is on Treatment Patients are individuals and families Diagnosis – physical exams and tests Treatment – Medication, surgery and therapy

Public health (Primary Health Care)

Focus is on Prevention Patients are families, communities and entire populations Diagnosis – epidemiological studies and community input Treatment – Education, inspection, advocacy, clinical services, vaccination, media communication

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Upstream-Downstream

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Health Promotion Disease Prevention Health Protection Surveillance Population Health Assessment

The five key functions

• f public health are:

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Who works in public health?

Nurses Epidemio- logists Dietitians Dentists Dental hygienists Social workers Administra- tive Profession- als

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Physicians Inspectors Nurse Practi- tioners Health Promoter Program Planners/ Evaluators

Governance

Population Health

Board of Health Medical Officer of Health Public Health Units

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Health Protection & Promotion Act: Board of Health

• Mandate health units to perform

functions in health promotion & disease prevention

• Ensure the provision of mandated

programs & services

• Establish overall objectives & priorities

for Health Units

• Ensure accountability to the community

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Health Protection & Promotion Act: Medical Officer of Health (MOH)

• Directs the overall provision and

implementation of programs & services

• Evaluates effectiveness & recommends

appropriate changes

• Reports findings to the Board of Health
• Hired by and accountable to the Board
• f Health
• Dr. Arlene King, Chief Medical Officer of Health, Public Health Division,

Ministry of Health & Long-Term Care

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Ontario Public Health Standards

Public Health Standards have established program standards in five main areas:

• Chronic Diseases and Injuries
• Family Health
• Infectious Diseases
• Environmental Health
• Emergency Preparedness

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Priority Populations

• These are the

population groups at risk of socially produced health inequities

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Factors influencing health

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Determinants of Health

http://www.sdhu.com/content/healthy_living/doc.asp?folder=3225&parent=322 5&lang=0&doc=11749#video

• Income and social status
• Social support networks
• Education and literacy
• Employment/working

conditions

• Personal health practices

and coping skills

• Healthy child development
• Biology and genetic

endowment

• Health Services
• Gender
• Culture

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Determinants of population health: A complex interaction of many factors

Therefore in public health we need to ask ourselves key questions when thinking about and planning our programs and services:

• 1. In what ways can public health support and advocate for programs and

services for priority populations?

• 2. What barriers are in place that we need to address in order to help

priority populations access programs and services?

• 3. In what ways can public health improve the environments where people

live, work, learn and play so that priority populations have greater access to opportunities for health?

• 4. In what ways can public health improve the social and economic

conditions that put individuals at greater risk of poor health?

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Health Equity

Equity in health implies that ideally everyone could attain their full health potential and that no one should be disadvantaged from achieving this potential because of their social position or other socially determined circumstance.

Whitehead, M. & Dahlgren, G. (2006)

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What would happen if we didn’t have public health?

• Infectious diseases such as Tuberculosis, Measles, Mumps and

Whooping Cough would be prevalent

• People would be ill from food poisoning and poor drinking

water

• More babies would be hospitalized due to difficulty feeding

and more mothers would give up breastfeeding earlier

• More youth and adults would be smoking or abusing drugs

and alcohol

• Unwanted pregnancies would increase, as would the spread
• f STIs

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12 Great Achievements

1. Safer and healthier foods 2. Control of infectious diseases 3. Healthier environments 4. Vaccination 5. Recognition of tobacco use as a health hazard 6. Motor-vehicle safety

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12 Great Achievements (continued)

7. Decline in deaths from coronary heart disease and stroke 8. Healthier mothers and babies 9. Acting on the social determinants of health

• 10. Universal policies
• 11. Safer workplaces
• 12. Family planning

Source: www.cpha100.ca/12-great-achievements

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Core Competencies

• Public Health Sciences
• Assessment & Analysis
• Policy & Program Planning,

Implementation and Evaluation

• Partnership, Collaboration &

Advocacy

• Diversity & Inclusiveness
• Communication
• Leadership

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There are many opportunities in public health…

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SARS H1N1

POVERTY

Tobacco Strategy

Many Opportunities

to contribute to the health

• f society

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Preparing for a public health placement

• Go to your health unit

website and read about programs and services

• Talk to previous students

who have had placements in public health

• Meet with your preceptor to

get to know him/her and find out specifics about your placement

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Preparing for your public health placement

• Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (www.health.gov.on.ca)
• Guidelines for the Provision of Mandatory Health Programs & Services (OPHS)
• Ministry of Health Promotion and Sport (www.mhp.gov.on.ca)
• Public Health Agency of Canada (www.phac-aspc.gc.ca): Core Competencies

in Public Health

• Public Health Ontario (www.publichealthontario.ca)
• Ontario Public Health Standards (www.health.gov.on.ca)
• Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion

(www.who.int/hpr/NPH/ottawa_charter_hp.pdf)

• Ontario Public Health Association OPHA (www.opha.on.ca)
• Health Protection and Promotion Act (www.e-laws.gov.on.ca)

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Roles of student, preceptor and faculty

Student Preceptor Faculty

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Learning

What to expect in a public health placement

• Expect to move around a lot and be in many places such as in

homes and in community agencies

• Expect to broaden your thinking and view of what public

health does

• Expect to attend meetings and have days when you may not

necessarily “see” a client

• Expect to feel overwhelmed and to feel out of place (at first)

as it takes time to get to know the people you are working with and what to expect

• Expect to meet a lot of friendly people who love what they do!

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Advice from previous students

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Keep open-minded and maintain a positive attitude Get involved and say “yes” to every experience offered to you Public health is very different from acute care and so be prepared to do extra reading in order to feel prepared Don’t be afraid to ask questions and to ask to observe or work in a variety of program areas Share your energy and ideas This experience will

• nly be as good as

you make it. Seize all opportunities

Acknowledgements

The Student Placement, Education & Preceptorship (SPEP) Network has agreed to post this PowerPoint presentation as part of the SPEP Resource Library. This resource is provided as a sample for reference purposes only and is not intended as a complete

• rientation.

This resource was adapted with permission of the following health units:

• Niagara Region Public Health
• Sudbury & District Health Unit
• City of Hamilton Public Health Services
• Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit
• Region of Waterloo Public Health

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Good Luck !

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