These essential services were constructed to help clarify the functions of public health agencies within a given community (Ingram et al., 2012). There are three major components that these ten public health services fall into: assessment, policy development, and assurance. Assessment provides the agencies and departments time to look at the health of their community. This gives them time to interpret and share data that was collected within their community. The focal point for policy development is to use the known information that was collected above and implement policies to solve the health problems of their community. Assurance involves public health agencies providing programs that their given community may need. It may directly come from the agency itself or from outside places. Overall, making sure that their community has the services they need in order to thrive in an healthy environment. The ten essential public health services were created due to the vagueness of the three components described above. These ten services further helped define the role and purpose of public health when working within communities. https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/ehs/images/graphics/essential-services-wheel.png
Monitor Health
This service is one portion of the assessment component. This service is directed towards recognizing the health problems within a community (MeckNC, 2018). This would include an agency going out into and assessing what problems this community may have, determining what tools a community has, and what may be hurting a community and being detrimental to the health of that community. When assessing a communities health it is vital to use the five social determinants of health to help see what is happening in a population of people(CDC, 2018) It is essentially the first step in defining a problem within a community and taking the necessary steps to solve the problem so the community can be more healthy as a whole.
Diagnose & Investigate
This service is the last portion of the assessment component. This service is used to enter the community and explore the potential health problems within a community (MeckNC, 2018). It is another step in trying to solve a serious health problem in a particular community. This service relies on heavily providing the community with programs that increase their knowledge on certain diseases and conditions. It also relies on trying to contain an outbreak of the disease that happens within a community. At the community level health officials go to investigate what could be a potential health hazard (CDC,2018). It looks for neighborhoods that could pose a threat due to all the deteriorating houses or simply testing the drinking water. Also, checking regularly on known contained landfills to prevent any leakage from happening. This entails agencies or health departments to be actively involved in the community to ensure that preventable threats don’t affect the population.
Inform, Educate, Empower
This is the first portion of the policy development component. It promotes a community to get involved in the health issues of their area. This portion wants the citizens of a local area to know exactly is going on in their community, providing them with essential information allowing them to make informed decisions. This section has agencies provide them with programs within their community to obtain this knowledge. Also, to make health information within a community accessible to the public. This seeks to explore the social and structural determinants of health (CDC, 2018). It is set up to be culturally understanding and for be people that speak different languages to feel engaged. To make them feel included and allow them to be able to make informed decisions and have access to the same information.Making it a point to give everyone the same access such as immigrants and help them find the care they need. This wants everyone to be knowledgeable about their own health as well as their communities and getting them involved in it.
Mobilize Community Partnerships
This is the second portion of the policy development component. It allows all parts of the community to work together as a whole to help get the community back on track to a healthy state (MeckNC, 2018). Developing programs and projects that try and improve the health of the overall community. Agencies tend to go outside of who they regularly work with (CDC, 2018). They engage with police departments, schools and even community organizations. In doing so this allows everyone know the common health issue going on. Allowing them to work together to come up with a solution that would benefit the community and reduce or even eliminate the health issue altogether.
Develop Policies
This is the last portion of the policy development component. This portion encourages individual and joint efforts to help support the health of the community (MeckNC, 2018). It sets goals and then tracks the progress on those set goals. Leadership at all levels of the community are desirable. This specific portion allows policy to be developed on a particular problem that is troubling a certain community. With policy being formed it allows agencies to start getting ready the programs it will instructed to implement based on the policy. These programs would include affordable and safe home that would improve or even prevent conditions that trouble low income children such as asthma (CDC, 2018). This is just one example of a policy that could improve the health of multiple children. Overall, it developing policies that are directly or indirectly related to health can help certain populations to regain health which will help the community as a whole.
Enforce Laws
This is the first portion of the assurance component. This calls for agencies to make sure that the community is following safety guidelines in order to protect the public from potentially being effected in a way that will negatively affect their health (MeckNC, 2018). Agencies or health departments are to execute the laws in which regard proper sanitation and safe drinking water. By making sure these laws are being executed it can prevent an outbreak that will negatively affect the health of a community (CDC, 2018). Such as having programs to prevent violence against women and children as well as codes being up to date in schools and houses preventing the negative implications of possible lead poisoning. This is vital that these agencies and departments follow these laws because this could pose a huge threat to a society.
Link to/Provide Care
This is the second portion of the assurance component. This allows for agencies to help people find the proper health services they may require and getting them set up with a primary physician that they need on a regular basis (MeckNC, 2018). Agencies here implement educational programs based on the need of the community. They would also be assessing usefulness of the programs to see if they are helping the community. Another way is informing people of the possible benefits that they are entitled to (CDC, 2018). Benefits such as medicaid and food stamps by setting them up with these possible benefits it can make their lives easier and be more healthier. Another possible benefit is housing by giving them a place to live it can too prevent some negative health outcomes. This sector is to solely help people find what they qualify for that can have a positive effect on them and their health.
Assure Competent Workforce
This is the third portion of the assurance component. Agencies here would be collectively putting a team together that is ready to help a community in multiple ways (MeckNC, 2018). This would have agencies hire and train staff that they think are going to provide the best care to the population they serve. They would determine the requirements and level of education an individual must have to employed. After determining if someone meets the criteria, they would come up with an intensive training program to ensure all employees are properly educated and ready to work. It would be helpful for the people that the agency is hiring should reflect the population they will serve. Making them more approachable and able to help each individual in the best way (CDC, 2018). Also that the a looking a referring back to the social determinants of health and making it their duty to follow them. Hiring a people that will benefit the community is vital role in the health of the people living there.
Evaluate
This is the last portion of the assurance component. This has an agency gather information on all their provided health services and determine if they are useful and accessible to all individuals that may need that particular service (MeckNC, 2018). This would allow agencies to move services and resources around in a strategic way the would benefit the community in an impactful way. Also, if programs are not working, this would give agencies time to re-examine them and come up with a new program that would better work within the community. Include the social determinants of health in the research that will be conducted by a specific agency (CDC, 2018). This allows for people to take the necessary steps to find the source of the problem, whatever it may be. After it is found it is important to address the problem and re-shape programs to fix the issue and benefit the community.
