Public Health and Healthcare (C-2)
Description
"We all have an obligation as citizens of this earth to leave the world a healthier, cleaner, and better place for our children and future generations."
-Blythe Danner, American Actress
Public health focuses on protecting and improving the human condition, and prolonging life. It necessitates public investment in education, promotion of healthy lifestyles, and research for disease and injury prevention, among others. Public health agencies at both state and local levels are central to effective public health and health care systems. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), such systems involve “all public, private, and voluntary entities that contribute to the delivery of essential public health services within a jurisdiction.”
Elected officials and law enforcement officers play an important role in the development and regulation of public health and healthcare policy. A number of public health professionals, strive every day delivering services to protect the health of our families and communities, whether working in hospitals, nursing homes, emergency management services, schools or mental health facilities. Volunteers from charitable and philanthropic organizations also contribute a lot to ensure that public health and health care goals are met in places where resource constraints might present impediments. CDC also places emphasis on the important role of youth development organizations, recreation and arts-related organizations in supporting public health.
CDC has formulated a set of 10 essential public health and health care services that provide the framework for determining how well a jurisdiction is doing at assessing the performance of its system. Broadly these fit under policy development, assurance, and assessment. They include monitoring the public’s health status, investigating and diagnosing health problems, public awareness, enforcing laws and regulations that support public health and health care efforts, assuring a competent workforce, and continuous research and innovation to keep abreast of health problems.
In the additional resources section to the right is a collection of related public service narratives "Ask me why I care,"under "Tell your story." They were curated by the University of Nebraska at Omaha College of Public Affairs and Community Service in a Public Service Stories Project. Project Co-Directors are Dr. Mary Hamilton and Ms. Rita Paskowitz. The collection includes videos and Suggested Assignments for Students.Collection Items
Dorothea Dix
Dorothea Lynde Dix (April 4, 1802- July 17. 1887) was born to Joseph and Mary Dix in Hampden, Maine at the beginning of the 19th century. Later in life, she described her childhood as being filled with poverty and loneliness. At a young age she left…
William B Sawyer
Dr. William B. Sawyer (1886-1950), the first black medical professional in southern Florida, has been recognized as an important figure in the early 20th century development of Miami’s African American community. Born in northern Florida, Sawyer…
WHO / Global campaign for violence prevention
The Global Campaign for Violence Prevention promotes the adoption of a public health approach to violence prevention, and provides a platform for collaboration and the exchange of information between actors at global and country level. It focuses on…
Super Size Me
The Academy Award nominated film Super Size Me is a 2004 American documentary film directed by and starring Morgan Spurlock. This film follows him throughout the period of a month, during which he only ate McDonald's food, thereby showing the…
World Health Organization Established in 1948
"The World Health Organization (WHO) was established in 1948 on April 7th, now known as World Health Day, the World Health Organization was first discussed when diplomats met to form the United Nations in 1945. Its role is to provide leadership on…
Public Health Posters
In midcentury, public health groups took cues from the advertising industry to warn of various health risks. A retrospective of 20th-century health posters features work from numerous countries on an array of diseases.
Public Health Doctor
Artist Jose Perez published a series of his satirical paintings, including "The Public Health Doctor," where he caricatures former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, who holds a tablet containing the Public Health Commandments.
Public Health Poster
In midcentury, public health groups took cues from the advertising industry to warn of various health risks. A retrospective of 20th-century health posters features work from numerous countries on an array of diseases
AIDS Education Posters
AIDS education poster advocating condom use and aimed toward educating people about HIV/AIDS prevention, risks, social advocacy, and compassion for those affected.
Nurse the Baby
This poster promotes proper child care and breastfeeding technique, encouraging women to talk to their doctor and educate themselves through Health Bureau publications. Posters such as these, created through the Federal Arts Project under the Works…
Chinese Public Health Movement
Chinese Public Health movement is the large collection of Chinese Public Health materials, about seven thousand items produced from early 20th century to the year of SARS. The collection has a wide range of media presentations: posters, health…
Cook County Public Health Unit
This poster is one of the 907 posters produced by Work Projects Administration (WPA) from 1936 to 1943 by various branches of the WPA. The posters were designed to publicize exhibits, community activities, theatrical productions, and health and…
Diphtheria Strikes
This poster is one of the 907 posters produced by Work Projects Administration (WPA) from 1936 to 1943 by various branches of the WPA.The posters were designed to publicize exhibits, community activities, theatrical productions, and health and…
Drinking Water Security Poster
This poster not only brings awareness to the importance of safe drinking water, but it also encourages the public to get involved and take action, reminding them that “we’re all in this together.” It was issued by the Environmental Protection Agency…
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, First Female Doctor in France
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, LSA, MD (1836 – 1917), was an English physician and feminist, the first Englishwoman to qualify as a physician and surgeon in Britain, the co-founder of the first hospital staffed by women, the first dean of a British…
Expecting? Get the Right Advice from the Right Sources
Posters from the Works Progress Administration often focused on public health. This poster focuses on infant care, which was a particularly popular topic. An eye-catching stork graphic encourages expectant mothers to consult their doctor or health…
Florence Nightingale, Nurse
Lo! in that house of misery A lady with a lamp I see Pass through the glimmering gloom, And flit from room to room.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Florence Nightingale (1820 – 1910) was a celebrated English nurse, writer and statistician. The history of…
Nurse Elizabeth Grace Neill
What do we live for if not to make life less difficult for each other?
GEORGE ELIOT
Elizabeth Grace Neill ( 1846 - 1926) was a nurse from New Zealand who lobbied for passage of laws requiring training and registration of nurses and midwives in New…
Health for Efficiency
This poster, sponsored by the Adult Education Project of the Board of Education and WPA, is an advertisement for free courses on "health education." Topics covered included "everyday problems in healthful living" and "first aid." Programs such as…
Will You Be a Free Man or Chained
This poster, released by the Social Hygiene Division (Army Educational Commission) was designed to spread awareness about venereal disease. This particular poster promotes the message of the social hygienist; these reformers viewed sexual…
Parents of Earth, Are Your Children Fully Immunized?
The Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, in partnership with the Center for Disease Control, issued this poster to gently remind parents to vaccinate their children. Using figures from pop culture, this poster creates awareness by drawing…
Jeffrey Wigand, Tobacco Industry Whistleblower
Jeffrey Wigand, the one-time tobacco executive, is now known synonymously with the term "whistleblower". When he realized how his company, Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., misled consumers about the addictive nature of nicotine, ignored research of…
John M. Woodworth, First Surgeon General
This photograph is of John Maynard Woodworth, (1837-1879), the first Surgeon General. The position was first created in 1871 in order to head the Marine Hospital Service, which existed "for the relief of sick and disabled seamen." The first marine…
Lillian Wald, First President of the National Organization for Public Health Nursing
Lillian D. Wald ( 1867 – 1940) was a nurse, social worker, public health official, teacher, author, editor, publisher, activist for peace, women's, children's and civil rights and the founder of what is now called public health or community nursing.…
Mary Breckinridge, Nurse
Mary Breckinridge was an American nurse-midwife and the founder of the New Model of Rural Health Care & Frontier Nursing Service. She started family care centers in the Appalachian mountains. She was known for helping many people with her hospitals.…
Mary Eliza Mahoney, First African American Nurse 1845-1926
Mary Mahoney was the first African-American woman to study and work as professionally trained nurse. Born in Massachusetts, she was a hospital worker before entering training and receiving a diploma in 1879 from the nursing school of the New England…
AIDS Preventing Project
Various posters to provide education about AIDS
(i) A small boy standing on a stool with his hands on top of a very large blue book with
"AIDS" on its front cover.
(ii) A mosquito wearing a t-shirt with blue map of the state of Alaska on his…
(i) A small boy standing on a stool with his hands on top of a very large blue book with
"AIDS" on its front cover.
(ii) A mosquito wearing a t-shirt with blue map of the state of Alaska on his…
American Red Cross
After World War I, the Red Cross became involved with a variety of public health programs. In 1921, for example, they began offering nutrition courses which helped educate people on healthy eating and proper food preparation. Classes on sanitation,…
Stephen Smith, Founder of the American Public Health Association
Stephen Smith, a physician and attorney, served on the New York City's Metropolitan Health Board and founded the American Public Health Association in 1872. This was the first national organization created to improve public health standards. Its…
Cook County Public Health Unit
This poster is one of the 907 posters produced by Work Projects Administration (WPA) from 1936 to 1943 by various branches of the WPA. The posters were designed to publicize exhibits, community activities, theatrical productions, and health and…
Tenement House Act
In 1867, 495,000 people in New York City were living in tenement buildings. Overcrowding (in some areas, a population density of 240,000 people per square mile) led to poor sanitation, which in turn led to cholera and typhoid outbreaks. To remedy…
Tobacco or Health: Choose Health
The headline in this poster presents a choice between tobacco and health, while an abstraction of a human head chooses flowers over a cigarette.
In 1988, the World Health Organization celebrated its 40th anniversary and the first World No Tobacco…
In 1988, the World Health Organization celebrated its 40th anniversary and the first World No Tobacco…
Trailer Clinic
Dr. L.E. Burney and Nurse Fran Miller, members of the Public Health Service staff traveled with the trailer which was built for use in a syphilis project in Georgia.
U.S. Public Health Service used trailer clinic in war against syphilis in…
U.S. Public Health Service used trailer clinic in war against syphilis in…
Wellbee Poster
In this poster, Wellbee cheerfully reminds the viewer to “be well” and “be clean” by washing his or her hands regularly, suggesting a clear connection between cleanliness and health.
WellBee was a loveable product of the Center for Disease Control,…
W.W. Godding, Superintendent of St. Elizabeth's Hospital
Today, research on alcohol/drug abuse and mental health is conducted under the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). However, government involvement with mental health issues…
Juke Joint Sniper
In this 1942 poster by Ferree, a striking blonde woman lights up a cigarette in front of a bar. The woman has blond hair and wears a short-sleeved steel blue dress, pink bracelet, and blue ring. She has a dark red purse tucked between her arm and…
Mississippi Midwives: A Glimpse of Health Care History in the Segregated Community
These three photos were taken during the summer of 1929 in Indianola and Ruleville, Mississippi. The photos are part of a research project focusing on the role played by African-American midwives in providing pre-natal, obstetrical, post-natal, and…
American Heart Association
The American Heart Association (AHA) is a non-profit organization in the United States that fosters appropriate cardiac care in an effort to reduce disability and deaths caused by cardiovascular disease and stroke. It is headquartered in Dallas,…
Polio Campaign, 1963
In 1961, oral polio vaccine (OPV) was invented by Dr Albert Sabin and introduced in the US. Sabin’s strategy was to give trivalent OPV to all children under five (two doses spaced 4-6 weeks apart). From 1963, the US was using OPV in mass polio…
NASA Safety/Health Reporting Sequence
Everyone at NASA is responsible for using established procedures to report suspected safety or health hazards to appropriate officials. No employee shall be subject to restraint, interference, coercion, discrimination, or reprisal for filing a report…
Government Reporting Chain: NARMS
The federal government established the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System for Enteric Bacteria (NARMS) in 1996 as a national public health surveillance system.
It tracks antibiotic resistance among bacteria from three sources:…
It tracks antibiotic resistance among bacteria from three sources:…