Public Healthcare Challenges with Budget Costs - Essay Example

Public Healthcare Challenges with Budget Costs Public Healthcare Challenges with Budget Costs Public health is defined as all the “activities pertaining and involving the prevention of infections and diseases, prolonging of life, and promoting the physical, social and psychological well being of a person or the population at large” (Londrigan, 2013, p. 13). It is achieved through communal efforts and collaboration during environmental sanitation and control of diseases (Londrigan, 2013, p. 13). The components of public health make it a fundamental process in the health sector because it compliments curative medicine. The need for financial resources has grown due to the fundamental roles played by public health. Most of the objectives of public health are difficult to meet due to insufficient funding. It is worth noting that the health of a community is dependent on an association formed between the public health sector and the curative sector. Over emphasis on one sector at the expense of the other pauses a major challenge. Funding Challenges for Public Health Administrators Public health is a wide field that covers numerous types of diseases. Public health services and activities not only cover prevention of communicable diseases but also lifestyle diseases. Several methods are used to achieve these goals. These methods include education, prevention modes such as vaccination and dietary methods, control of existing cases to reduce infection and elimination of the causative agents. All these activities require a thorough undertaking that requires numerous financial resources. The majority of public health administrators and personnel are unable to achieve their goals and objectives due to insufficient funding of the public health sector. In the United States, only three percent of the national spending goes towards public health services. This situation prevails in most countries worldwide despite the numerous complaints by the public health sector. Some of the factors that make it hard for the sector to source fund from governments include issues such as over emphasis on curative medicine as this appears to have more physical or case evidence. Another challenge in the public health sector in the funding process is that many countries are experiencing challenges balancing their budgets. It is a major challenge in the third world countries that do not have sufficient resources to spend as much as they would want to in the public health sectors. This strain is not only a challenge in the third world and developing nations but also in developed countries. For instance, the US is struggling to cover the deficit that has now stretched over the recent years. In such situations, the additional funding required by the public health sector is always neglected because it means reducing allocation to another sector. According to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (2013), a research report done by the Trust for America’s Health organization shows how increased funding at both the federal, state and local levels will play a major role in promoting public health services’ efficiency. My Concern about the Public Health Allocation It is quite disappointing to note that only three percent of the funds allocated towards health care are spent on public health. In the event that more funding was directed towards public health, the overall expenditure on health care would reduce significantly (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2013). Public health is a cheaper option in comparison to curative health care. Most of the diseases known to man are preventable or controllable meaning that the number of casualties can significantly reduce. For example, if all the communicable disease cases are prevented from spreading and the un-infected population remains healthy, the money spent curing the existing cases of illness (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2013). It takes less funding to sustain preventive healthcare as compared to curative health care. Let me use diabetes as a real example. Diabetes is a lifestyle disease that people get mainly due to ignorance on the healthy way of living. In order to prevent diabetes, it is necessary to conduct proper and efficient health education. The funding of education services through the various media such as televisions, radio adverts, programs and public health professional takes fewer resources. It is worth noting that manufacture and expertise needed in dispensation of diabetes medication requires numerous resources. The role played by the patient is also manageable because it entails eating right and undertaking enough physical exercise. This cannot be compared to the lifestyle changes that diabetic persons adapt because the financial and psychological changes are exhausting. The same applies to many other diseases such as HIV/AIDS, cardiovascular diseases, ear, nose and throat infections. Public health activities such as environmental sanitation and impact assessments go a long way by preventing disasters and saving the lives that would have been lost and the properties destroyed. For example, controlling toxic emissions into the atmosphere has a chain effect into preventing natural disasters. Offering Public Health Education at Low Costs The stakeholders should spend the resources effectively and responsibly as possible due to the low funding in the public health sector. The most important step is to identify the challenges the community is facing in terms of health and putting them in order of priority based on factors such as mortality, morbidity and contagiousness. Disease patterns are not uniform due to the effect of environmental conditions and economic activities. It is important to know the trends and patterns of the target population before deciding on a mode or method of education and what message to deliver (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2013). In order to offer public health education at a lower cost, it is important to consider the community’s way of life in relation to information exchange. For example, some communities are more religious. Consequently, it is simple to find them at places of worship. Some communities are more interested in reading. Consequently, it is easier to offer information through electronic and print media because they are the cheapest modes of passing information. For example, a public health official can deliver messages or educate the willing religious leaders to assist in delivering the message. In the event that health education is conducted without the above considerations, the probability of reaching the target subjects remains little. It eventually leads to wastage of resources. Challenges As a Community Health Nurse within Budget Constrains According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (2013), state budget have a major impact on public health organizations. Some of the challenges include increased workloads caused by the financial inability to hire more public health personnel to serve the constantly changing and growing population. This causes strain and exhaustion among the existing staff thus hindering service delivery. The low budget means that very little can be put into public health research to address existing and emerging health issues or improve personnel skill. This hinders service delivery in terms of quality. Community health nurses face the challenge of working without sufficient updated equipment and medication due to reduced funding. The conditions pose threats to both the patient and the nurse making it harder for them to tackle the issues. Low Cost Health Promotion and Attitude Change Governments and other health promotion organizations need to do more in changing the public perception and approach to public health practices (Londrigan, 2013). For example, this can be done by teaching some of the practices in school starting from the lowest level. Developing a curriculum that puts emphasis on prevention will also change the perception of the community as the children learn and grow up (Londrigan, 2013). Additional information Teaching health practices at the lower levels empowers the learners not to seek treatment only when the infection or disease strikes because it will have a long-term effect in shifting the balance and cutting costs. Conclusion The public health sector continues to experience financial strains in service delivery yet it remains the cheapest option of care. It has a direct positive impact on the overall cost of health care. Financial challenges affect the working environment of the personnel and administrators of public health services. The search for funds has become a major challenge with emphasis being put on curative healthcare. References Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. (2013). Public Health Workforce Faces New Challenges and Opportunities. Retrieved from http://www.innovations.ahrq.gov/content.aspx?id=3712 Londrigan, M. T. (2013). Public Health Nursing: Practicing Population-based Care. New York: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. (2013). Investing in America’s Health. Retrieved from http://www.rwjf.org/en/research-publications/find-rwjf-research/2013/04/investing-in-america-s-health--april-2013-update-.html Read More