The Alabama State Department of Public Health - Research Paper Example

 Community Prevention Project Introduction The Alabama State Department of Public Health provides essential services to the concerned community. It serves to offer caring, professional and high quality services with the aim of improving and supporting public health by employing strategies directed towards the assurance of related services and prevention of diseases. Service provision focuses on both temporary and resident populations within the state, without considering the social status of persons. According to the legal provisions of the state, the department has a mandate to respond to all matters related to health as well as offering advice to the state as relates to public health, medical issues and sanitation (mchd.org, nd). This paper looks at the health concerns of the community, provides a proposal for a community intervention program with a clear analysis based on SWOT, with an estimated budget for the overall initiative. Health Concerns of Community The health issues in the Alabama community depict a variety of diseases as provided for in the range of services offered by the department. The Alabama Department of Public Health provides various services that classified into healthcare services, environmental services, protection of health standards, and provision of information, education and related health services (adph.org, nd; mchd.org, nd)). In view of healthcare services, the department focuses on various diseases and health issues including breast and cervical cancer, child health, dental services, diabetes and emergency medical services. Other offerings include family planning, HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and home care services. Further, the department provides for immunization, laboratory services, control of infection, maternity, nutrition services, clinical nursing, tuberculosis and social work (adph.org, nd). Environmental services include the protection of food and lodging, processing of milk and food, regulation of seafood, provision of indoor air quality, and control of animal and insect disease transmitter nuisances. Other services relate to the provision of sewage disposal systems, and responsibility for solid waste and control of water supply in individual residential wells. The protection of health standards involves such issues as certification and licensure, provision of survey information and environmental monitoring against radioactive materials, for instance, through radiological training (adph.org, nd). Lastly, the provision of health information, education and other related services entail issues of birth and death certificates, investigations of disease outbreaks and surveillance, emergency preparedness, health statistics, and insurance programs for child health and minority health. The body also offers primary and rural care, statewide registry for cancer, prevention of injuries such as a rape prevention and education program and tobacco control (adph.org, nd). Suggested Prevention Program The state of Alabama depicts significant availability of water resources, which generate from underground and surface sources. However, a large portion of these resources contains various contaminants. In order to ensure improved water quality, there is a need to get rid of the disturbing issues caused by the contaminants (Escud, 2013). Further, great focus rests on ensuring the safety of water for drinking purposes. These contaminants arise as nuisance and health-related forms and occur in supplies of natural water. Human activities stand to be key determinants of health issues depicting great risk as they lead to water pollution (Escud, 2013). In this view, the Alabama State of public health ought to employ the use of a program that seeks to provide a preventive measure on storm water pollution. The impacts of storm water pollution extend to various drain systems. The flow of water down the streets and driveways, through a gutter, ends up in a storm drain, which flows into a water body such as lake or river (Escud, 2013). Similarly, to raw sewage, storm water depicts same types of pollutants following a dry spell. Such polluted water runoff poses significant and harmful impacts on water supplies for drinking, wildlife and recreational purposes. Contaminated storm water portrays is devastating effects clear with the closure of a number of beaches and lakes. In this view, this program ensures that appropriate strategies apply with the aim of providing for improved water safety, as well as eliminating water contamination. Thus, the program should comply with the requirements of the environmental regulations within the state. The program focuses on the general community in Alabama and includes a variety of activities providing for the solutions to existing issues. Preventive strategies utilized with this program focus on eliminating a number of pollutants including household oils and grease, household chemicals, detergents, pesticide use, waste from pets and drinking water supplies (Escud, 2013). One approach entails the education of the community on the needed water for safety as pertains to storm water through creating awareness on the harmful effects of contamination. The responsibility of the Storm Water Program Coordinator rests with the need to ensure that water safety, as well as conservation, is improved. This program applies in correspondence to implementation of best practices in the community. Learning institutions stand to be key players as relates to the creation of awareness through providing for the necessary knowledge and skills in prevention of storm water. Community members stand to be important participants of the overall project as other means of prevention highly focus on them. In this view, various strategies stand out: provision of better dumping facilities to prevent dumping in storm drains; proper disposal of household chemicals; and provision of guidelines on proper disposal. The other approaches involve provision of cleaning services in relation to oil spills and faulty vehicles; maintaining clean driveways, for example, through sweeping, and development of a recycling center within the state. For school institutions, the Alabama Department of Public Health provides for the guidelines allowing for enhanced training and education on storm water prevention and safety (Escud, 2013). Additionally, the program provides for permits to other sectors, mainly the industrial sectors, which outline a number of provisions regarding storm water in terms of quality and elimination of contaminants. Essentially, the program works in such a way that it addresses other community-related issues such as water safety and improved health standards. Improved sanitation arises as a possible occurrence with the formulation of the various approaches employed with this program. With the implementation and maintenance of this program, the Alabama Department of Public Health provides school institutions and the society with the necessary tools for mitigating on pollutants contained in storm water. The program seeks to encourage the Alabama community to be proactive participants through setting good examples in the form of offering innovative solutions addressing the variety of environmental issues (Escud, 2013). Education and outreach initiatives mainly carried out by the higher learning institutions and the concerned department seeks to engage the community more into the overall project. This program involves other major participants including the Alabama Department of Environmental Management as well as corresponding to the Alabama State Water Program. Sample Program Budget For full implementation of the project, the Alabama department of public health requires a variety of resources. One important requirement is the need for training and learning materials at school and community levels. Labor costs reflect from the project due to the number of staff involved in the overall process. Materials and supplies become necessary for health centers and clinics within the state. The survey process incorporated within the project requires the use of stationery in addition to other materials such as tape recorders. Certification and licensing of the program within the state’s legal provisions adds to the expenditure of the program implementation. Miscellaneous expenses include all other costs having an indirect impact on the execution of the project, such as health-risk's prevention costs. The table below represents a summary of the proposed budget plan for the project: Summary Budget Plan for Storm Water Prevention Program Details Amount (U.S dollars) Training and learning materials $ 60, 000 Staff wages and salaries $ 158, 000 Certification and licensing $ 9, 400 Medical health facilities to clinics and health centers $ 215, 000 Stationery and research materials $ 3, 000 Office/ rental centers for community and school meetings $ 68, 000 Miscellaneous expenses $ 73, 500 TOTAL $ 586, 900 SWOT Analysis of Proposed Program The project shows different features portraying its strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities. The state of Alabama contains a variety of water resources that remain helpful with the execution of the project (cdc.gov, 2011). Additionally, the variety of schools and health centers provide an advantage of learning and create awareness of the initiative. The expected sponsors of the project become great determinants of its implementation, with their support giving a go-ahead of the project. The Alabama department of public health, being key sponsors and executors of the initiative, comply with the state’s legal requirements (cdc.gov, 2011). Thus, the research portrays possible success due to meeting the standards of existing related provisions, such as the Environmental Protection Agency. However, the initiative entails a complex process requiring the full expertise of staff and significant expenditure on time. The process arises as a costly measure clear with a huge expenditure. Protocols and bureaucracies in the licensing process of the program also stand as a possible challenge to the initiative. Education and training initiatives become challenging due to associated costs relating to materials and the execution staff (cdc.gov, 2011). To create awareness of the existing issue, significant amounts of financial resources become necessary. Further, other intervention strategies become essential in the implementation of the project, such as costs related to arising health risks. Conclusion The program for storm water pollution seeks to provide for effective approaches to the elimination of contaminants present in storm water as well as ensuring the safety and quality of water. The program becomes a preferable alternative due to the efficiency it provides in addressing the issues if storm water pollution. The societal benefits are many including improved health standards in addition to providing the necessary knowledge and information on the need for improved water safety. The state of Alabama shows a number of opportunities with the implementation of the program. Creation of awareness seeks to improve the standards of health in the community as well as foster the adoption of already existing and related provisions, such as those on environmental concerns. References Adph.Org. (Nd). Guide to Services. Retrieved April 30, 2014 from http://www.adph.org/publications/assets/guidetoservices.pdf Adph.Org.(Nd). Programs and Services. Retrieved April 30, 2014 from http://www.adph.org/administration/default.asp?id=499 Cdc.Gov. (May 6, 2011). Do a SWOT Analysis. Retrieved April 30, 2014 from http://www.cdc.gov/phcommunities/resourcekit/evaluate/swot_analysis.html Escud. (2013). Storm Water Pollution Prevention Program. Retrieved April 30, 2014 from http://www.escusd.k12.ca.us/Maintenance_Operations/Storm_Water_Pollution.htm Mchd.Org. (Nd). The Alabama Department of Public Health. Retrieved April 30, 2014 from http://www.mobilecountyhealth.org/Default.asp?p=%27ADPH%27 Read More