Public Health Systems the Value Term Paper

One of the most fascinating problems associated with the information age, is not the lack of information but the overabundance of information one can find on any given topic. The internet drives this phenomena of abundance and can offer the individual to many choices and conflicting opinions. There is really no issue, besides health that more effectively resembles the above statement. Many people then seek information from recognized public sources. Of the nine websites listed in the assignment brief, the three that stand out, for various reasons are: American Public Health Association - http://www.apha.org/,National Association of County and City Health Officials http://www.naccho.org / & U.S. Department of Health and Human Services http://www.hhs.gov/.

Each of these websites has a user friendly format with easy links to information that a health consumer might be looking for, but these three offer significant benefits. The first website contains the most effective answer tot the question "what is public health?" According to the founding statement of the membership organization APHA, the association works to protect people and communities from "preventable, serious health threats." This statement though general, is exactly what public health is, it is a collective of care that deals with a broad variety of public health issues, everything from work injury prevention to keeping the public up-to-date on health threats, such as the avian flu. The public health system is vast and includes public and private entities who seek to assist the public in understanding the risks and consequences of living, in a perspective which is understandable and this website provides links to community and members for this purpose.

The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) is also an effective website which offers public health professionals and the public timely information regarding public health issues, as defined above, but the scrolling picture programs list is a substantial access point. When a seeker of information reads each of the information windows as they scroll by they understand the breadth of the information and access points available on the website as well as a great deal more about the organizations and its purposes.One particularly interesting option is the toolbox feature, which is the search engine of the site. When I opened that window and began searching for information on current health topics I was flooded with great articles and insights from reputable and easy to understand resources. The website also offers contact information (LHD Index) for local health department offices and services, a fantastic centralized find for anyone looking for schedules or service in their local area.

The final website is the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services http://www.hhs.gov/website, which offers fantastic up-to-date information on current health issues, right on the first page. The news and information center, which opens in the center of the home page, is much like media websites that scroll new "stories" but these articles and news releases are specific to health related concerns and very topical. This is the kind of website you need to find when you watch something on the news and then desire more information.

One final though that is asked in the question is to make a recommendation for other websites that are responsive to the question of what public health is. I have always found that the name recognition and the mass of information Available on the CDC website is fantastic as a starting off point for problems or solutions to them. http://www.cdc.gov/

American Public Health Association - http://www.apha.org/

Association of State and Territorial Health Officials http://www.astho.org/

National Association of County and City Health Officials http://www.naccho.org/

Public Health Foundation http://www.phf.org/

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services http://www.hhs.gov/

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency http://www.epa.gov/State health departments, available through ASTHO http://www.astho.org/Local health departments, available through NACCHO http://www.naccho.org/Association of Schools of Public Health, available through ASPH http://www.asph.org.....