Public Health and Accessing Health Care

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Public Health and Accessing Health Care

Introduction

Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals" (1920, C.E.A. Winslow).

Ottawa Carter defines Health Promotion as "the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve, their health” (Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, 1986).

Public health's mission is to "fulfill the interest of the society and assure healthy living condition for people. Their main goals are; to assess and monitor the health of communities, and identify those at risk of health problems; to form of policies that made to solve identified local and national health problems and to assure access to appropriate health care service which should be cost effective.

In this paper we are going to discuss and analyze the policies framework that is used in public health disease management and would relate it to type-two diabetes in United Kingdom. Along, with that in this paper we are also going to discuss the epidemiological stats to demonstrate the extent of problem. Diabetes will be linked with mental health. An appropriate public health guideline is considered to give background on its significant to our practice. Finally, the role of a nurse in the chosen policy will be evaluated.

Discussion

Diabetes mellitus or diabetes is a chronic metabolic disorder which is accompanied by a too high level of glucose in the blood. In diabetes, the body is unable to properly process glucose. That is because there is too little or no insulin is produced or because the body becomes insensitive to insulin. Insulin is necessary for the transport of glucose from the blood to the body's tissues. With little or no insulin, the body has trouble getting the glucose from the blood to get and increase the blood glucose levels. This causes all sorts of problems and complications.

Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is classified as a public health issue because it has huge impact financial and social conditions of the community. Along, with that it also leads towards a lot of complications during pregnancy for women, resulting in reducing the quality of life of the person. It is one of the most common health issues among the people of United Kingdom. It is known to affect people's day to day life. Being diagnosed with DM has impact on physical i.e. symptoms not fully controlled, injecting and regular blood tests. Emotional: i.e. fear of being alone and going into hypo and practically i.e. spending more money on eating the food advised and visiting the diabetic clinic, people with diabetes in the UK account for 10% hospital admission. Estimate of 1.9 billion is attributed to diabetes, plus extra cost in the UK (Christine Hine 2005).

With about six million people in United Kingdom already was diagnosed with diabetes. Ninety percent of them suffer from Type 2, known as adult onset diabetes. Experts estimate that 14 to 21 percent of elderly people over ...