Please respond to both POST1: and POST2: with at least 200 words and APA cited reference each.

Required

• Chapters 4 & 5 in Public Health Ethics
• Mansfield, T. J., Rodriguez, D. A., Huegy, J., & MacDonald Gibson, J. (2015). The effects of urban form on ambient air pollution and public health risk: A case study in Raleigh, North Carolina. Risk Analysis: An International Journal, 35(5), 901-918. doi:10.1111/risa.12317

Recommended

• Bai, L., Wang, Y., Guo, Y., Zhou, Y., Liu, L., Yan, Z., …Xie, X. (2016). Health risk assessment research on heavy metals ingestion through groundwater drinking pathway for the residents in Baotou, China. Journal of Environmental Health, 78(6), 84-90.

Before you begin crafting your discussion responses for this week, be sure to read the required materials and watch these two videos:

• Rebuilding Places of the Heart (Links to an external site.)
• Social Policy in Concrete (Links to an external site.)

These videos are designed to provide you with a broad understanding of the topics that are discussed in class. This week, our focus is on understanding public health basics: prevention of disease, clean air, clean water, and food supplies. You will also learn about how different cities approach and manage their public health issues for maximum wellbeing of residents.

This week, evaluate your own community in terms of integrated approaches to public health. Select a focus on disease prevention and control, air, water, or food.

• What community-based strategies do you see in place to protect health?
• What health services, local organizations, or national organizations exist to support wellness in your area of focus?
• Do pollution or contamination in your area impact the focus you selected?
• What does your community need to do to improve public health in the area you selected for this discussion?

POST1:

In the process of evaluating my community in terms of integrated approaches to public health, Durango, CO seems to have many strategies regarding disease prevention and control, air, water and food. Although it is a small mountain town, in research Durango uses many more strategies for better public heath than countless other cities. To narrow it down, clean air is very important to the community. Therefore, Durango has built countless bike/walking paths all throughout the town as well as bike lanes on each road. The goal is to have less people drive cars which creates less pollution and builds a healthier community all around. Another strategy I see in place to protect public health within the community are the local farms and how a large number of restaurants utilize their fresh produce, dairy and meat in their kitchens. This strategy is putting healthier foods in the mouths of the community and supporting local farms. When it comes to local health services that exist to support wellness in my area, there are countless. A few of them are all the wellness businesses such as Chiropractors, massage therapists, acupuncture, etc., that promote healthy lifestyles and most support events and lectures in the community to reach more individuals and families. One of the largest organizations that promotes public health in our community is San Juan Basin Health. San Juan Basin Health is a public and environmental health agency for Archuleta and La Plata counties and their mission is to protect human and environmental health and inspire well-being in out community states San Juan Basin Health. (2019). They offer services such as the assessment, planning and communications regarding all health aspects, birth and death certificates, emergency preparedness and response, environmental public health, child care facilities, health promotion programs, and health prevention programs to name a few. San Juan Basin Health is the main public health facility in our community that offers countless forms of health education. When it comes to a public health issue that could use more attention in my community it would be poverty and the homeless. We do have a soup kitchen that helps this portion of the community but overall we need more strategies to help those get off their feet and seek employment, housing, food, etc.

Reference

San Juan Basin Health. (2019). Retrieved from https://sjbpublichealth.org/Links to an external site.

POST2:

The community of Phoenix Arizona has multiple health issues just as any other community. Because of the very hot climate this leads to pollution and allergen increases. This has an effect of Phoenix’s community members and is only one of their may issues. Another large issue in the community is water. phoenix has such a high-density population that water sustainability has become an issue in the near future. “Experts predict temperatures will rise an additional 10 degrees Fahrenheit over the next seven decades” (Martin, 2018). These climate changes will have side effects on human as well as environmental health. Phoenix has implemented some community-based strategies I place to benefit the community. The Chronic Disease Self-Management program is a community-based program to educate through an efficient professional curriculum to help spread healthy lifestyles. Another program in play is the Smoke Free education courses. This program is meant to educate all members, but targeting youth, to teach and show the effects of smoking can affect your health. Pollution and contamination are a large issue in the community. With the heat climate as intense as Arizona it increases pollution and contaminants. “over 2.6 million, or 79%, of the county’s residents are at high risk for respiratory complications due to air quality” (Eastwood, 2019). Due to the population, heat, and automobile pollution, Arizona counties are suffering with health issues from pollution. The only real solution for the pollution issue in this region is to promote physical exercise and using better uses of transportation. If the community were to try and walk or ride their bikes to closer destinations that would have a positive effect on the pollution issue. With so many community members and such high traffic rates, this is going to be a very difficult challenge to accomplish.

References

Martin, K. (2018, May 11). Environmental factors could threaten health of Arizonans: Cronkite News. Retrieved November 5, 2019, from https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2018/04/30/environmental-factors-could-threaten-the-health-of-arizona-residents/.

Eastwood, S. (2019, January 11). What You Should Know About Phoenix Air Quality. Retrieved November 5, 2019, from https://www.tripsavvy.com/brown-air-in-the-valley-2683731.