Health programs are designed to help people improve their lives by reducing the risk of disease, disability and premature death. They are often offered by employers, insurance companies and community groups. They can include anything from smoking cessation programs to health education classes. Some examples of health promotion and disease prevention activities are lowering cholesterol levels, promoting physical activity and providing support groups for those with chronic diseases like diabetes or asthma.
Those with a passion for research can pursue various masters-level degrees that focus on clinical and epidemiological research. For example, a Masters of Science in Clinical Research (MS-CR) degree can provide students with the tools and skills to develop and conduct a clinical research project, read and critique clinical research literature and write grant proposals for future projects. These types of programs can also offer a more hands-on approach to clinical research, including the opportunity for students to participate in real-world case studies and develop practical experience in patient-centered care, biomedical ethics, computational and statistical sciences, epidemiology and medical pharmacology.
In addition to focusing on individual diseases, public health programs can also work to address the social, cultural and economic conditions that influence people’s ability to make healthy choices. These factors are called the social determinants of health. Disease prevention and health promotion programs can reduce the social determinants of health by changing modifiable risk behaviors such as poor diet, smoking, substance use and lack of physical activity.
The goal of most public health programs is to maximize the overall health of society. This means ensuring that children are born healthy, school children learn well, workers are productive, adults are healthy and active in their retirement years, and that communities are safe from natural disasters, epidemics and other unforeseen events. It also involves ensuring that citizens have access to medical care, quality food and water, and safe shelter.
In order to be effective, all of these programs require innovation to identify a set of high-priority, evidence-based interventions that together will have a significant impact; a technical package consisting of a limited number of low-cost, highly-scalable interventions; effective performance management with rigorous, real-time monitoring, evaluation and feedback, and the capacity to learn and improve; partnerships and coalitions with public- and private-sector organizations; communication of accurate information to inform behavior change and engage civil society; and political commitment. Successful global health initiatives such as polio eradication, smallpox eradication and tobacco control have all built upon these six elements.
For LHDs looking to implement these new program models, they need the resources, training and tools to be successful. NACCHO is proud to offer a variety of resources, including a Local Health Department Preparedness Survey.