In the present day, health issues are global and impact populations across the globe mainly due to the increasing globalization of trade and other activities that causes integration of population from various parts of the world. For example in the 21st century, disease outbreaks such as Ebola, SARS and swine flu have resulted in global health issues that has the capability of affecting the health of human population all over the world. Therefore due to these new challenges that are occurring in population health, the integration of medical and public health in the world is essential in enhancing the effectiveness of addressing the causes of disease so as to ensure a healthy population. Based on the Flexner report and Welch Rose Report, the medical care and public health profession are divergent disciplines that are grounded in different theoretical perspectives resulting in differences in the approaches that are used in the management of health in the community. In the discussion of the paper, the need for the integration of medical care and public health will be addressed through the use of evidence form literature in an attempt to understand the importance of a multidisciplinary approach in the management of health issues in the present day.
In addressing the intersection of public health and medical care is based on the theoretical perspectives that were put forward by scholars such as Welch Rose and Abraham Flexner respect respectively and resulted in the development of professional education in public health and medical care in the United States. Despite the initially held divergent thoughts regarding the different approaches to professional education in public health and medical care, the two disciplines are mutually supportive (Koo, Felix, Dankwa-Mullan, Miller & Waalen, 2012). Medical care and public health are mutually supportive in practice due to the shared responsibility for improved population and community health outcomes. Therefore, grounding the intersection of models of public health and medical care in the health status of the community the intersection between public health and medical care is guided by a set of principles that is shared across the discipline. The share principles that bring about the intersection of public health and medical care include a common goal in the management of health in the community (Koo, Felix, Dankwa-Mullan, Miller & Waalen, 2012). In the community, public health practices involve the prevention of diseases through organized efforts such as population health analysis that identify the threats to health. The results of public health practice is promoting human health and prolonging life (Landon, Grumbach & Wallace, 2012). On the other hand, medical care involves maintaining or restoring the health of an individual through treatment or preventive measures. Therefore based on the activities undertaken by practitioners, public health and medical care are mutually supportive and none of the profession can operate in isolation of the other.
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Furthermore, the intersection between medical care and public health is made possible because both professions rely on the engagement of the community in the identification and management of the health needs in a population (Linde-Feucht & Coulouris, 2012). This is seen whereby in the prevention of disease in the population public health officers interact with the community so as to establish the causes and also measure the severity of the disease in the population. On the other hand, the health care professional also engage with individuals in the community so as to identify the health needs of the individual through the assessment conducted in order to establish a diagnosis for which treatment or preventive measures will be undertaken. Therefore through the engagement with the community to establish the needs of the population and therefore undertaken intervention to promote health establishes an important intersection between public health and medical care (Landon, Grumbach & Wallace, 2012). Also public health and medical care are mutually supportive in promoting the health of the population through the sharing and collaboration of the professionals in the utilization and analysis of valuable data that is collected from the community for the purposes of promoting health (Koo, Felix, Dankwa-Mullan, Miller & Waalen, 2012). For example, the measures of disease such as calculation of incidence or prevalence of a disease in a particular community over a certain duration of time is important to public health and medical care practitioners in determining the disease burden in the population. In cases of an outbreak, public health officers as well as medical care officer share the information so as to plan for the management of the outbreak with the goal of reducing disease burden in the community (Koo, Felix, Dankwa-Mullan, Miller & Waalen, 2012). There for the intersection of medical care and public health is essential in identifying ways of promoting the health of population through the mutual support mechanisms.
Despite the mutual support between public health and medical care, there are several differences in the theoretical perspectives used in practice that should be addressed so as to ensure intersection between the two professions. The differences in the theoretical perspective and practice include; public health practice focuses on providing a spectrum of interventions that are focused on the environment, medical care and human behavior so as to control disease in the population (Sommer, 2011). On the other hand, according to Flexner report, the medical paradigm focuses on the individual and therefore the spectrum of interventions is focused on the medical care of the individual through the provision of medication for treatment as well as individual behavior and lifestyle modifications (Duffy, 2011). In the discussion of public health in accordance to Welch-Rose report and Flexner report, the intersection between public health and medical care is seen through the focusing on human behavior and lifestyle in the management of disease in the population. For example, in the management of cardiovascular diseases which is a major public health and medical issue in the world today, medical care and public health intervention focuses on lifestyle choices such as excessive smoking, sedentary lifestyle and obesity as the major causes of increased morbidity and mortality in the population. The intersection of public health and medical care in the present can also be seen through the management of sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV/AIDS in the community whereby intervention such as provision of education and awareness regarding the prevention and management of the disease is addressed.
Despite the mutual support that is seen in the intersection of public and medical care there is still room for improvement in the multidisciplinary collaboration. The multidisciplinary collaboration seen through the intersection of public health and medical care is important due to the fact that it is becoming increasing significant to establish a multidisciplinary approach in the management of national and global health issues in the 21st century mainly because of the increasing globalization that create new public health issues (Varkey, Billings, Matthews & Voigt, 2011). Also due to new developments in the health sector such as increasing incidence of illnesses and injuries that are caused by human behavior, there is room for the improvement of the intersection between public health and medical care. In the 21st century, behavior related injuries such as accidents caused by driving under the influence alcohol as well as diseases such as obesity is creating a new public health and medical care issues. Therefore due to such emerging issues in the 21st century, there is still room for improving the intersection of public health and medical care so as to develop new strategies of addressing the issues so as to continue realizing the benefits of multidisciplinary collaboration. This is because with the changing demographics in population whereby the number of aging individuals is increasing, the disease burden is likely to also increase due to increases prevalence of chronic illness such as diabetes and heart diseases among the elderly population (Akhtar-Danesh, Valaitis, O’Mara, Austin & Munroe, 2013). More intersection between public health and medical care is required in promoting health in the aging population. Furthermore, apart from diseases in the environment or health risks due to human behavior and lifestyle, new threats to the population are emerging. New threats such as bioterrorism provide a room for improvement of the multidisciplinary collaboration in the management of health issues because of the use of chemical or biological weapons that is beyond the capability of a single profession (Akhtar-Danesh, Valaitis, O’Mara, Austin & Munroe, 2013). The 21st century is creating further opportunities for the intersection of public health and medical care nationally and globally so as to promote the health of the population amidst emerging threats.
The paper reflects the belief that in the population, the national and global health can immensely benefit from the valuable interdisciplinary collaboration created by the intersection of public health and medical care. To further realize the benefits of intersection of public health and medical care, institution of higher learning throughout the world should consider establishing innovative interdisciplinary educational programs as well as research that will assist in promoting population health. The new threats to health such as bioterrorism and increasing incidence of behavior and lifestyle diseases and injuries provides an opportunity for the improvement of the multidisciplinary approach in collaborative research and interventions that promote national and global health. There is room for improvement of the mutual support so to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of promoting the health of the population through intersection of public health and medical care.
- Akhtar-Danesh, N., Valaitis, R., O’Mara, L., Austin, P., & Munroe, V. (2013). Viewpoints about collaboration between primary care and public health in Canada. BMC Health Services Research, 13(1).
- Duffy, T. (2011). The Flexner Report ― 100 Years Later. Yale Journal Of Biology And Medicine.
- Koo, D., Felix, K., Dankwa-Mullan, I., Miller, T., & Waalen, J. (2012). A Call for Action on Primary Care and Public Health Integration. American Journal Of Public Health, 102(S3), S307-S309.
- Linde-Feucht, S., & Coulouris, N. (2012). Integrating Primary Care and Public Health: A Strategic Priority. American Journal Of Public Health, 102(S3), S310-S311.
- Landon, B., Grumbach, K., & Wallace, P. (2012). Integrating Public Health and Primary Care Systems. JAMA, 308(5), 461.
- Sommer, A. (2011). The Welch-Rose Report-A Public Health Classic.
- Varkey, P., Billings, M., Matthews, G., & Voigt, R. (2011). The Power of Collaboration. American Journal Of Preventive Medicine, 41(4).