Public Health and Disability: Exploring Key Characteristics

This report delves into the crucial relationship between public health and disability, examining several key characteristics. It highlights the multidisciplinary nature of disability, emphasizing that various disciplines like medicine, social work, and public health nursing approach it from different perspectives, often integrating these perspectives for a more comprehensive understanding. The report explores the political nature of public health, its connection to civil rights, and resource allocation, demonstrating how these factors influence the lives of people with disabilities. It also discusses public health economics, the broad and changing agenda of public health, and the importance of prevention. Furthermore, the report emphasizes the values-based approach of public health, particularly its commitment to social justice and equal access to health services for all, including individuals with disabilities. Finally, the report references key literature to support the findings, providing a comprehensive overview of the subject.

Running head: PUBLIC HEALTH 1
Public Health
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

PUBLIC HEALTH 2
Describe the basic characteristics of public health and its connections to disability
Public health is a science aimed at safeguarding and enhancing the health and lives of
people, families, societies, and populations (Schneider, 2016). One field, many disciplines is a
basic public health characteristic whereby public health contains several disciplines like
dentistry, medicine, and also contains epidemiology of diseases. In connection to disability,
professionals in every discipline approach it in distinct perspectives. Political nature
characteristic involves the government where its responsibility is in its constituents. Politics are
connected to disability due to its link to civil rights and empowerment that protect people with
disabilities. Moreover, resource allocation characteristic entails prioritizing issues since money is
always finite (Brownson, Baker, Deshpande & Gillespie, 2017). In public health, the criteria on
how issues should be prioritized are discussed. Federal programs from federal agencies as a
result of resource allocation impact people with disabilities.
Another characteristic is public health economics and measurements. Professionals utilize
economics to ascertain the magnitude of issues especially those related to disability and the
effectiveness of the efforts to address it. Broad and changing agenda characteristic involves
political as well as social climate influence and what the community emphasizes regarding
disability along with public health. In connection to disability, public health incorporates fully
the whole range of disabilities in their programs (Brownson et al., 2017). On the other side,
public health in prevention characteristic focuses on avoiding injuries as well as disorders. It has
prevention programs and interventions such as seat belts to help the disabled from other injuries.
Lastly is the values base in social justice characteristics. Public health has its roots in social
justice and it provides equal access to health services to all the people including the disabled.

PUBLIC HEALTH 3
References
Brownson, R. C., Baker, E. A., Deshpande, A. D., & Gillespie, K. N. (2017). Evidence-based
public health. Oxford University Press.
Schneider, M. J. (2016). Introduction to public health. Jones & Bartlett Publishers.