5 Steps to Develop a Career in Public Health

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July 4 2023 - When it is about establishing a healthy community, public health education holds great importance. It plays a key role in producing highly qualified public health professionals who contribute positively to serving society. Community health workers also work with stakeholders work in a community to provide healthcare access to all. Public health education has a huge global impact. The recent pandemic of COVID-19 is the perfect example of how high-qualified public health professionals handled the situation worldwide. They served at the community level by collaborating with other healthcare professionals to control the situation.

Public health education impacts different areas of wellness. It includes chronic disease awareness, mental health, substance abuse awareness, obesity prevention, and many other health-related issues. Public health educators also collaborate with health departments, government offices, and local nonprofits to create educational programs and different resources to meet the different needs of the community.

1. To Address Healthcare Disparities

Public health education plays a crucial role in addressing healthcare disparities across the globe. It provides educational programming at a community level and enables public health educators to provide access to healthcare resources to everyone equally.

Education has empowered public health professionals to deal with healthcare disparities. That is why high-level education is essential for all public health professionals. As a public healthcare professional, if you want to pursue further education but face issues due to a full-time job, you may leverage distance learning methods on the internet. In that case, online degrees such as a masters in public health policy online will be an ideal choice for you. It will help you address the healthcare disparities at a large level.

According to research, common health disparities are related to gender health, racial health, rural health, and socioeconomic health. Well-educated public health professionals have medical science expertise, and they know how to view communities through a social justice lens. It allows them to work with communities and analyze healthcare trends.

2. Impact on Government Policy

The impact of public health education also extends to legislation and policy development at a local, national, and state level. It informs and influences major decisions that impact community health. From campaigns and legislation, public health education spreads awareness among people to adopt a healthy lifestyle. It includes programs that make people aware of diabetes, smoking prevention, obesity prevention, alcohol prevention, and other basic public health issues.

The role of public health education is not limited to individuals. It prepares professionals who can encourage and guide people globally to adopt the right health measures. It produces leaders who can lead the communities and the local and international levels to ensure the well-being of people by providing useful input in the creation of government policies.

3. Mental Health Issues

Whenever a natural disaster occurs, people have to experience different types of loss. From businesses to homes to precious lives, natural disasters do not have mercy for anything. When people go through such type of tragic losses, it affects their mental health big time. In such cases, the role of state government becomes crucial because they have to act fast to control the situation.

Also, relevant authorities should provide necessary training to the professionals working in disaster management. It will nurture their skills to provide necessary care to individuals who have to go through emotional trauma due to the severity of the disaster.

It takes some time when the after-effects of natural disasters to start to appear. But the first thing that it affects is the mental health of people when they start seeing the damage with their own eyes. Stress and mental fatigue are common among the survivors of natural disasters, which can have long-term effects on their overall health. Constant depression, post-traumatic stress, and chronic stress can affect the entire health function of the body.

4. Economic Importance of Public Health Education

Public Health education not only empowers individuals across the world to add value to the life of people. But it also boosts the economy of the community by minimizing healthcare spending due to preventable illness. Obesity and tobacco cost a large number of healthcare costs and also cause lost productivity. Public health education plays a crucial role in controlling these healthcare costs.

According to a statistical study, globally, the annual loss in economic productivity costs billions of dollars due to obesity. Public health educators design programs to help people deal with such health issues that improve the health of individuals and provide a good return on investment for communities worldwide.

Healthcare organizations worldwide require a massive budget to control the healthcare crisis. They need millions of investments to treat different types of illnesses that are not caused to natural reasons. Such health issues are related to smoking and drug abuse. It shows that public health education holds great importance in making the economy stable for healthcare organizations in all parts of the world.

5. A Progressive Field

The social and economic impacts of community health continue to grow worldwide. It also makes public health education more demanding and creates opportunities for individuals to build their professional careers. According to a study, employment in public health is expected to grow by 13% by 2031. Professionals with public health degrees can find various opportunities in colleges, healthcare settings, nonprofit organizations, and public and government health departments. 

Considering the current situation of the COVID-19 pandemic, the field of public health education also holds special significance. Although, the situation is under control now as most people are now vaccinated. But you never know when the next wave of COVID-19 will hit the world again. It creates opportunities for public health professionals to work in different healthcare organizations to fulfill their duties and guide people.

Conclusion

The role of public health education has become more important than ever before. It empowers professionals to provide the right guidance to people and adopt a healthy lifestyle worldwide. If you are public health educator, then you should fulfill your responsibility to make people aware of global health issues and how they can deal with them. By doing this, you will serve society and positively contribute to the global health economy.

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