Exercises - PH 413: Public Health and Health Services

In addition to a variety of learning activities, there are 3 instructor-evaluated activities associated with PH 413: (1) complete the individual exercise; (2) participate in a multi-learner conferencing exercise; and (3) complete and submit the assessment quiz. Each of these is explained below.

Learning Activities (Note: these ARE NOT to be submitted!)

A series of individual learning exercises for this module are provided below. Completing these exercises will familiarize you with the knowledge, skills and attitudes that relate to the competency expectation for this module that is described above. Note that learners are not required to submit written response for these learning exercises. Completing these exercises, however, will prepare you for components of this module that are assessed and scored.

Read Chapter 3, Public Health: What It Is and How and Works, 3rd Edition.
What are the most critical issues facing the health care system in the U.S. today? Before answering this question, see what insights you can find at the web sites of these major health organizations: American Medical Association, American Hospital Association, American Nurses Association, and the American Association of Medical Colleges.
What forces are most likely to fuel further movement toward major health care reform in America?
Examine two recent editorials appearing in the American Journal of Public Health: Managed Care and Public Health (Levi) and Not-So-Strange Bedfellows: Public Health and Managed Care (Koplin and Harris). If you were the editor of this journal and could publish only one of these two editorials, which one would you select for publication? Why?
Select an important health problem (disease or condition) related to maternal and child health from the "Healthier Mothers and Babies" and "Family Planning" reports in the "Century of Progress in Public Health" case study. Describe interventions for this problem across the 5 strategies of health and illness related interventions (health promotion, specific protection, early detection, disability limitation, rehabilitation) presented in Chapter 3.
Select an important health problem (disease or condition) related to maternal and child health from the "Healthier Mothers and Babies" and "Family Planning" reports in the "Century of Progress in Public Health" case study. Describe interventions for this problem across the 3 levels of preventive interventions (primary, secondary, tertiary) presented in Chapter 3.
Examine the data on the health system in Illinois or one of its counties that is available through the Illinois Department of Public Health, and especially the IPLAN data set. Then review the county-level data available through the web site for the Missouri Department of Health. What elements from these sites are most useful?

Evaluated Activities (Note: these ARE to be submitted!)

(1) Individual Exercise

Each learner will submit a brief response to the following exercise. Produce your response on a separate document to be uploaded at the "Submit Assignments" link. Please use "PH 413 Individual Exercise" as the title of your submission.

Based on the recent newspaper article on the health status in Kane County (Illinois) residents (your PH 412 Exercise), select two important health problems facing that community. Then identify appropriate public health and medical care interventions that you believe could prevent or diminish those problems. Describe those interventions in terms of how they might impact on the problem (primary, secondary, tertiary prevention) and whether these interventions are best directed at individuals, target groups, or the entire community. (Your analysis should be no longer than 500 words.)

(2) Conferencing Exercise

Add your contributions to this multi-learner conferencing exercise. Produce your response on a separate document to be uploaded at the "Submit Assignments" link. Please use "PH 413 Conferencing Exercises" as the title of your submission.

Each learner will contribute to a discussion involving contributors to improvements in health status for mothers and infants in the U.S. since 1900. Review the "Healthier Mothers and Babies" and "Family Planning" reports in the "Century of Progress in Public Health" case study. There are 2 propositions to be considered:

Proposition A: public health interventions are primarily responsible for these improvements.

Proposition B: medical care interventions are primarily responsible for these improvements.

Review each of these positions as well as postings by other learners providing arguments and evidence in support of one of these positions. You should review the positions and their supporting arguments and evidence before developing your own response. Your posting should be brief (less than 100 words) and it should include your arguments, evidence and rationale.

(3) Assessment Quiz

Follow the LearningSpace link to the Assessment Quiz. You may be asked for your login ID and password to access the quiz through your Preparedness Center Personal Page. Complete the quiz and submit your responses. You make take the quiz several times.

Course Evaluation: All learners are asked to electronically complete a Course Evaluation Questionnaire; this is available to you as an electronic form and will be transmitted to a data base without your identity being known, and your instructor will have no way to link your identity to your comments. Before participating in these course evaluation activities, students should review the specific learning objectives established for this course (and others you may have taken as part of this series); these are available in the Syllabus. Evaluation of the course should focus on the extent to which these objectives were achieved.

PH 413 Exercises last revised June 29, 2005 (dkapadia)