Contemporary Public Health Research, Policy and Practice in the UK

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The influence of Historical Antecedents on the Development of
Contemporary Research, Policy and Practice in Public Health
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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Part A: Essay..............................................................................................................................4
Part B: Reflective account of practical implementation............................................................7
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................8
Reference list..............................................................................................................................9
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Introduction
Public health indicates the protection of people from the diseases and maintains their well-
being. In this study, public health will be defined along with the changes have taken place in
past few years. In addition to this, the present health issues affecting UK people will also be
highlighted here. The influences of the research regarding public health on the development
of policies will be analysed here. Obesity will be the selected area of public health concern.
A reflective report will be prepared here to review the strategies of local public health to
ensure integrated practice. The role of regulatory bodies will also be discussed here.
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Part A: Essay
Essay on the influence of historical antecedents on the development of Contemporary
Research, Policy and Practice in Public Health
Introduction
Government has to develop effective strategies to improve public health. In this section, the
health issues currently occurring in UK will be highlighted. The development of relevant
policies will also be discussed here.
Discussion
The improvement of health of the communities can be ensured by Public health. As
commented by Nelson and Staggers (2016), public health can be considered as a science of
protecting people from chronic diseases. In the past, there was no such specific treatment for
the chronic diseases and the number of care providers was less. Hospitals were established by
the Municipal and local authorities to deal with the infectious diseases. Moreover, at that time
the people with mental illness also were provided with treatment at these hospitals. The
boards of Governors of UK were responsible to run the voluntary organisations.
However, due to the economical issues, the individuals who did not have any long-term
disease were prioritised within the hospitals. Local authorities were responsible for providing
community care. In 1938, UK Government established Emergency Medical Service.
National Health Service (NHS) was established in 1948 for reforming the health services so
that the individuals can be able to receive their required services
(assets.publishing.service.gov.uk, 2019). After that, UK population was able to get curative
and preventive services. Medical profession had been divided into two parts after the creation
of NHS such as independent contractors and salaried employees. Consultants of Hospitals
were also allowed to work as a part time contractor in NHS.
In 1960, the UK government adopted huge number of technologies. Besides that, they have
arranged beds in the hospitals for more than 1000 population. In 1970, NHS took an initiative
for “population based funding” (assets.publishing.service.gov.uk, 2019). The Regional
Health Boards also participated in managing the services by effective strategic planning. In
1990, stand-alone Trusts had been established for managing the community services and
hospitals of UK (assets.publishing.service.gov.uk, 2019). As a result, the condition of the
staffs also had been improved. In the year 2000, the structural changes in NHS had taken
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place to offer quality of health services. Confidents of public had been rebuilt due to this
changing structure of NHS (assets.publishing.service.gov.uk, 2019).
By the passing time, people become more concern regarding their health and for this reason,
they look for modern medication and treatment so that they can be able to get a healthy life.
Several radical reforms have been taken place to ensure the safety of public. However, the
cost of health services is also increasing day by day. NHS is investing financial resources so
that every individual can be able to receive their needed services and get healthy life
(assets.publishing.service.gov.uk, 2019). Changing trends in health along with recruiting
more GPs are the main concern of this body to ensure “health and safety” of people.
From the present scenario, it can be found that the well-being of UK population is affected
due to the public health issues such as alcoholism, Bowel cancer, obesity as well as mental
illness. Changing health requirements is becoming a major challenge for people in UK and
due to this reason; the number of people dealing with poor health is increasing.
The life expectancy of UK people is increased in comparison to the past few years. It is found
that 1.35 million people aged 85 were there in 2017 (bbc.com, 2018).
Figure 1: Life expectancy of UK people
(Source: bbc.com, 2018)
It is expected that this number will be two million by 2031 (bbc.com, 2018). However, due to
the chronic diseases including diabetes, obesity and dementia population is living in poor
health. From the recent research, it is found that people can live with good health condition
for 63 years. After that, there can be huge chances of aging illness. Joint and muscle pain
along with sight loss are occurring among the people. Smoking and obesity are also the two
primary risk factors behind the illnesses (bbc.com, 2018).
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It is seen that more than 2.8 million adults of UK are over-weighted and that is leading
towards obesity. Admission in the care homes regarding obesity has been increased to 15%
in 2019. From the figures published by NHS, it is seen that 29% adults are examined as obese
due to their unhealthy eating habit and poor lifestyle (theguardian.com, 2019). Not only the
adults but also the children in UK are encountering the same health issue.
For this reason, the Government of UK has arranged a programme that is known as
“Change4Life programme” (gov.uk, 2019). The individuals are influenced to eat healthy and
involve themselves in physical activities so that their body weight can be managed. The care
homes are advised to promote the measures of obesity so that UK population can be informed
about the ways of managing their body weight and well-being.
NHS to make sure that the individuals dealing with obesity can be able to receive the
medication on time invests £6.1 billion per year. As per the “Childhood Obesity Strategy” of
UK, it can be said that parents need to ensure that their children are taking healthy foods
(bda.uk.com, 2019). In addition to this, the professionals of health care homes are provided
with training so that it can be easier for them to offer proper medication to the children. As
the number of adults suffering from obesity is higher than the rate of children having obesity,
hence most of the care homes do not have sufficient resources to provide treatment to the
children. However, necessary changes have been done within the care homes by considering
this strategy so that the children can be offered with required treatment (bda.uk.com, 2019).
As stated by Stevens (2017), it can be said that “public health research” can be helpful to
analyse the reasons behind degradation of health. In context of UK, it can be seen that people
are dealing with obesity that is also a major reason behind heart disease and kidney problems.
The research work can be beneficial for Government to identify the causes of obesity so that
they can be able to take necessary actions to protect people from this disease. After that, the
improvement of treatment process can be introduced to ensure betterment of public.
Moreover, the research can help care homes to evaluate the required resources for giving
treatment to the care users suffering from obesity. After this people can live healthy life for a
long time (De Vries et al., 2016).
Conclusion
From here, it can be said that huge changes are taken place in the health system to protect
population from illness. They need to be restricted to consume junk foods otherwise; their
body weight cannot be controlled.
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Part B: Reflective account of practical implementation
Critically review local public health strategies at integrating approaches to health
improvement in response to priorities identified by a regulatory body
Mental health care and primary care can be combined under integrated care. According to
Moore et al. (2017), integrated care helps the individuals to receive their expected treatment
and overcome their illness. It is found that in order to offer integrated care to the individuals
NHS has adopted “Integrated Care and Support: Our Shared Commitment’” strategy
(england.nhs.uk, 2019). A document has been prepared by the national partners to maintain
integration while providing treatment to the care users.
As per this strategy, the local authorise work in a collaborative way with NHS to provide the
required support and care to each individual of UK. Besides that, this body is also committed
to provide education and housing services to the individuals so that they do not have to
encounter issues while getting treatment. Not only the experts but also the patients and their
family members play essential role in case of integrated services by sharing details regarding
the health condition of the individual (england.nhs.uk, 2019).
“Person-centred narrative on integration” strategy of NHS helps the care providers to make
care plan based on the individual service requirements of the care users (england.nhs.uk,
2019). Every care worker of NHS is instructed to individually interact with the care seekers
along with their family members. After that, they need to discuss the condition of the patients
with their integrated team members so that they can develop an effective care plan. Personal
involvement of the support providers can become higher if they are following this strategy
while giving care. In addition to this, the care workers are advised to adopt modern
techniques for providing integrated care to the patients.
Review different approaches of partnership working
The private organisations can build partnership with NHS so that they can be able to make
sure that their care users are provided with the required resources. For example, in case of
obesity, NHS can make partnership with private hospitals of UK. After that, they would not
have to face any challenges regarding financial resources. Moreover, the staffs can promote
healthy lifestyle to deal with obesity. On the other hand Sullivan and Skelcher (2017) stated
that, local authorise can make partnership and work together to protect people from any
particular issue. For instance, it is seen that 14 local authorities are working with NHS to
fight against obesity (england.nhs.uk, 2019).
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Reflect on the demonstration of how own role supports individuals to be aware of and
participate in local health initiatives
According to Ocloo and Matthews (2016), the care providers have the responsibility to
promote “health and safety” of people. As a health care assistant, I think I have to be
committed towards maintaining safety of the individuals by taking care of their individual
needs. For example, I have to interact with the family members and make them aware about
the risk factors of obesity. Moreover, I need to help them to get familiar with the
Government initiative and programmes regarding obesity by promoting the strategies within
the care home.
Explain the roles and responsibilities of different agencies
Different agencies can take initiative to arrange programmes for promoting the preventions
strategies of any disease (Sperling et al., 2015). For example, health care agencies of UK are
arranging the obesity related programmes to aware the individuals. Moreover, they can offer
e-health services to the individuals to overcome obesity. The professionals can be involved in
providing online advices to the people having obesity.
Role of public health regulatory body
Regulatory bodies have to be committed to take actions for dealing with chronic diseases
(McCormack and McCance, 2016). Regulatory bodies have to identify the reasons of the
long-term illnesses by conducting research work. The regulatory bodies of UK including
NHS and CQC need to be involved in making effective strategies for dealing with long-term
illnesses. For instance, they can promote collaborative practice to make sure that obese
people are receiving their necessary treatment. They can provide insurance coverage so that
people with poor income can be able to receive the treatment, as nowadays the medication
cost is expensive. They can suggest the professionals to take part in the welfare programmes
and give relevant advices to the care users.
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Conclusion
From this study, it is seen that the organisations need to concentrate on providing person-
centric care for ensuring health and well-being of the population. NHS has taken initiatives
by changing its structure to maintain the service quality. As people are suffering from
obesity, hence the Government is promoting the strategies to deal with this disease. Healthy
eating parents as well as doing physical activities on daily basis are suggested to people.
Regulatory bodies of UK need to offer training to the professionals and make sure that they
are giving appropriate treatment to the adults along with children.
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Reference list
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk 2019. The History and Development of The UK National
Health Service 1948 – 1999, Available at:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/57a08d91e5274a31e000192c/The-history-and-
development-of-the-UK-NHS.pdf [Accessed on: 1st Jan, 2019]
bbc.com 2018. England facing 'changing health needs', Available at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/health-45470820 [Accessed on: 1st Jan, 2019]
bda.uk.com 2019. Policy Statement - UK Government's Childhood Obesity Strategy,
Available at:
https://www.bda.uk.com/improvinghealth/healthprofessionals/policy_statements/
policy_statement_-_uk_governments_childhood_obesity_strategy [Accessed on: 1st Jan,
2019]
De Vries, H., Bekkers, V. and Tummers, L., 2016. Innovation in the public sector: A
systematic review and future research agenda. Public administration, 94(1), pp.146-166.
england.nhs.uk 2019. Integrated care and support, Available at:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/part-rel/transformation-fund/[Accessed on: 1st Jan,
2019]
gov.uk 2019. 2010 to 2015 government policy: obesity and healthy eating, Available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/2010-to-2015-government-policy-obesity-and-
healthy-eating/2010-to-2015-government-policy-obesity-and-healthy-eating [Accessed on:
1st Jan, 2019]
McCormack, B. and McCance, T. eds., 2016. Person-centred practice in nursing and health
care: theory and practice. John Wiley & Sons.
Moore, L., Britten, N., Lydahl, D., Naldemirci, Ö., Elam, M. and Wolf, A., 2017. Barriers
and facilitators to the implementation of person‐centred care in different healthcare
contexts. Scandinavian journal of caring sciences, 31(4), pp.662-673.
Nelson, R. and Staggers, N., 2016. Health Informatics-E-Book: An Interprofessional
Approach. Elsevier Health Sciences.
Ocloo, J. and Matthews, R., 2016. From tokenism to empowerment: progressing patient and
public involvement in healthcare improvement. BMJ Qual Saf, 25(8), pp.626-632.
Sperling, L.S., Mechanick, J.I., Neeland, I.J., Herrick, C.J., Despres, J.P., Ndumele, C.E.,
Vijayaraghavan, K., Handelsman, Y., Puckrein, G.A., Araneta, M.R.G. and Blum, Q.K.,
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2015. The cardiometabolic health alliance: working toward a new care model for the
metabolic syndrome. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 66(9), pp.1050-1067.
Stevens, R., 2017. Medical practice in modern England: the impact of specialization and
state medicine. Routledge.
Sullivan, H. and Skelcher, C., 2017. Working across boundaries: collaboration in public
services. Macmillan International Higher Education.theguardian.com 2019. Obesity-related
hospital admissions in England rise by 15%, Available at:
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/may/08/obesity-related-hospital-admissions-in-
england-rise-by-15 [Accessed on: 1st Jan, 2019]
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