Health programs are designed to prevent, treat, and control diseases and injuries. They also promote healthy lifestyles, including exercise and good nutrition. They can be found in schools, hospitals, private organizations, and government agencies. Some programs focus on specific populations, such as the elderly or children. Others are broader, such as efforts to reduce smoking and obesity. Many public health programs are based on sound research and evidence-based practice.
The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the need for adequate, flexible funding for governmental public health. Increased funding will enable public health to be more effective in protecting against and responding quickly to a broad range of threats, whether infectious or non-infectious.
Identifying and evaluating interventions that improve health outcomes is an important function of the CDC and other public health agencies. This includes calculating cost-effectiveness ratios (CEA) that compare the benefits of a program with its costs, such as the number of lives saved per dollar spent.
This evaluation process is a complex endeavor that requires careful planning and implementation. In addition to identifying the program’s overall objectives and specifying its target population, determining the evaluation design and collecting appropriate data and documentation are critical for successful results. The evaluation methodology should be transparent and objective so that the results can be replicated and applied to other programs.
The CDC and other public health agencies are developing new methods to evaluate their programs, such as patient-centered outcomes research and comparative effectiveness research. These methodologies provide new ways to quantify benefits and costs, such as the number of years of life saved or the amount of disability avoided. These approaches are particularly useful for comparing interventions that achieve similar outcomes.
Health education is a critical part of the public health system. Health educators are responsible for educating the public in a variety of settings, including hospitals, clinics, community centers, and workplaces. They may teach courses or individual lessons, identify needs, perform community outreach and advocacy, conduct staff training, and develop mass media campaigns. They may also manage grants and write proposals. Health educators are certified by the Commission on Accreditation for Health Education.
A health care program can help your employees make healthy choices about their diets, exercise, and sleep habits. Offering on-site gyms and fitness classes, and stocking breakrooms with healthy food options are just a few of the ways you can encourage your employees to make health a priority at work. Another simple but effective way to implement a health program is by offering smoking cessation programs, which can be especially helpful for employees who are struggling to quit. A health program can even include presentations on the risks of cigarette smoking and the benefits of quitting. In some cases, these programs can lead to the company offering tobacco-free policies.