PUBH 302 – section 001

Assignment Due Thursday, November 18, 2021

Upload into Blackboard by the end of the day (11:59PM)
Total points = 100

Part I. Upload your response to the five questions below. Use complete sentences. Identify the questions you are
answering by including the question number. Each answer should be at least five sentences. Each answer is worth 20
points.

1. What, if any, silver linings for public health and the public health system have come out of the COVID-19
pandemic?

One silver lining for public health that has come out of the Pandemic is that people, including kids are washing their
hands more and wiping down surfaces. Even though we know covid does not travel by surfaces, this aids in protection
against other viral and bacterial infections. In addition, mental health is now not seen as much as a taboo topic than
previously before the pandemic allowing those who are suffering to not feel alone. Plus, there has been an increase in
development of technology support for physical and mental health. This allows for more technology to aid in treatments
and better telehealth services.

2. Describe your first reaction to learning about the cost and quality of health care in the United States. If you had
the ability and resources to change the organization and financing of the US health care system, what would be
the first thing that you would do and why?

When I first heard about the cost and quality of health care in the United States in this class I was not surprised as I have
family in healthcare and have heard about it before. The first time I heard about the misuse of money towards our
healthcare I was upset and angered because we have so many resources materialistically and financially, but our
systematic health is still very poor. If I had the organization and funding of the US health care system, I would first
change how healthcare workers practice medicine. This is because a very important part of medicine is preventative
care, which as we saw in sick around the world and many other documentaries, our healthcare system does not focus on
this. Having better, or even any, preventative care would sufficiently better our healthcare system because most of
peoples health and chronic health issues stem from diseases that can easily be rectified and prevented by better care
upfront.

3. Review the news headlines since the semester began. Find a story that is related to health and then describe
whether the article is predominately about health care or public health, or both. Is health equity mentioned? Be
sure to include a link to the article. Is this a new source that you would recommend to someone who wants to
find information about public health? If someone wanted more information, find a reliable source, and provide
the link. (two links should be in this answer)

I found an article posted on October 22th about Long Term Covid effects that I found very interesting,
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/in-depth/coronavirus-long-term-effects/art-20490351

This article has more of a focus on health care as it is about individual patient care, but it can be seen as public health as
people across the world are surviving Covid and having to live with these effects on their health and bodies. Surprisingly
health equity is not mentioned. I would recommend this article for someone who would want to find information about
healthcare and the effects of long-term covid but not necessarily for the public health aspects. If someone wanted more
information on the care of long-term Covid they can find it at, https://health.usnews.com/conditions/coronavirus-and-
your-health/articles/post-covid-care-clinics.

4. One of the themes of National Public Health Week in April 2021 was “Uplifting Mental Health and Wellness”,
why do you think this was selected? Find and describe a podcast or app that you think could benefit someone
who is trying to attend to their mental health. Identify a primary prevention strategy, a secondary prevention
and tertiary prevention strategy to address a mental health illness and identify the illness.

I think that the theme of mental health was selected because there is still a huge stigma around people having and
talking about mental health, especially men. An app that I think can benefit someone trying to attend to their mental
health called Calm, that I actually use myself. Calm provides you with options of activities you can do such as self-care,
self-image, breathing/relaxation, and prevention of self-harm. The mental health illness that I would like to address is
mood dissociation disorder that is normally found in children and there is evidence that if not taught how to care for
oneself, this can develop into bipolar disorder. A primary prevention strategy is educating parents on the warning signs,
a secondary prevention strategy would be developing brain scanning for development troubles that can lead to this
disorder and finally a tertiary prevention strategy would be therapy for the child and family.

5. What public health issue is most important to you and why. Answer this in two to three complete sentences.
What can you do or are you doing to advocate for this public health issue?
The public health issue that is most important to me is not having access to health care/ not having sufficient
health care. One aspect of our horrible healthcare system is the expensive and unaffordable cost of having a
baby and care afterwards where the US averages about $50,000 per birth. Something I can do to advocate for
this is create organizations that aid in childbirth and care for lower or even cost free as well as advocating for the
transport and birth systems in place for women on Medicare.