Introduction
The EPHS forms a basic structure for public health practice, guiding efforts aimed at promoting and safeguarding the well-being of individuals, families, and communities. This article will analyze the roles and rationale behind the operations of EPHS by exploring their functions and the key components that make them successful. Furthermore, we will analyze their significance when considering their importance, expressed in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, showing their key role in maintaining public health.
Body
Core Functions
The EPHS is built upon three core functions: evaluation, policy creation, and audit. Assessment refers to the organized and uniform approach of collecting, examining, and evaluating data so that health problems, determinants, and community trends can be understood (Perry, 2024). For example, the spread of COVID-19 led the health authorities to conduct extensive testing and tracing of contacts so as to ascertain the virus outbreak and find the hotspots.
Policy development is an encompassing term that covers the prescription and implementation of evidence-based policies and strategies to address identified public health problems. The COVID-19 pandemic triggered a wide range of policy responses, including the use of face masks, social distancing, and vaccination campaigns as part of the mitigation strategy and protection of the population.
Assurance suggests that there should be a prompt supply of health services, and rules and regulations should be enforced to ensure risk-free public health. Health departments are one of the major bodies that have been at the forefront in ensuring testing, treatment, and vaccines for the disease are accessible while, at the same time, enforcing quarantine as a measure of containment.
Ten Essential Services
In addition to ECD, EPF also delineates ten essential services, which extensively articulate specific actions to be done in the fulfillment of the core functions. These include community health status monitoring, partnership building, and access to other resources. Service number one, “Monitor health status to identify community health problems”, was one of the key fronts that played a key role in tracking COVID-19 cases and following the pandemic trajectory.
In addition to these three, the EPHS incorporates the core ten essential services, which provide specific actions required to support core functions. They comprise service offerings such as tracking health conditions and engaging community partnerships and resources. In particular, service number one, “Monitor health status to identify community health problems,” became the first approach to tracking COVID-19 cases and monitoring the development of the pandemic. The service, together with others including diagnostic and investigation of the health problems, information and education of the public, mobilization of community partnerships, and evidence-based policies, did create a strong system for tackling the problems posed by the pandemic (Stewart et al.,2021). Each service thereby acted in a distinct yet complementary way through the measures of appropriate communication and management of resources to identify and implement preventive measures against outbreaks.
Functionality and Collaboration
Each of the vital services runs its program, but they also work together to be mutually beneficial in order to resolve the complex public health issues. For example, service number two, “Assess and investigate health problems and health hazards,” core function,” draws upon assessments to identify and respond to emerging health threats (e.g., pandemics like COVID-19) that pose a risk to the community.
On the contrary, each of the essential services is run independently, but they also contribute collective aid to the complex public health issues. For example, function number 2, “Diagnose and investigate health problems and health risks in the community,” employs data collected through assessment (core function) to detect and intervene in new threats to health, such as that of novel infectious diseases like COVID-19. This interplay between assessment and diagnosis enables public health agencies to track such patterns, comprehend transmission, and deploy timely targeted interventions with ease. Also, implementation of policy development and assurance implies that outcomes from the performative factor are transferred into policy measures and controlled and monitored interventions. This collaboration between diagnostics and policymaking was applied during the COVID-19 pandemic by creating testing strategies, contact tracing protocols, and quarantine measures in order to contain the spread of the virus (Epps et al.,2021). Moreover, the assurance element ensured the presence of screening sites, health workers, personal protective gear, and healthcare resources to support diagnostic services and timely interventions. This continuous cooperation and collaboration among the essential services epitomize the interconnectedness of public health actions and how the comprehensiveness of the approach in addressing emerging health issues is a necessity.
Positive Impact on Health Experiences
EPHS implementation envisions health integrally driven by proactive surveillance, preventive protection, and preparedness. Another example is service number four: “Mobilize community partnerships to identify and solve health problems.” This is because it was through the collaboration of public agencies, healthcare providers, and community organizations in society that they were able to have community-driven campaigns that involved vaccination during the COVID-19 pandemic.
EPHS implementation positively changes the health experiences by creating prophylaxis, prevention, and preparedness at the community level. Furthermore, the fourth service line, “Build community partnerships to discover and solve health problems,” brings public health agencies, health care providers, and community groups to work together in order to close health disparities and improve health outcomes. Such a partnership can be seen in the community-driven vaccination campaigns during the COVID-19 pandemic (Epps et al.,2021). Moreover, this engagement and collaboration of the community partners not only improves access to healthcare services but also builds trust, commitment, and adherence to preventive measures and healthcare interventions, thus contributing to improved health outcomes for individuals and the community (Appleton et al.,2021). Moreover, community stakeholders are involved in decision-making processes as well as implementation of the program, which ultimately leads to community ownership of health and addressing the social determinants of health in an effective way. This approach, however, not only builds communities’ resilience in coping with health crises but also creates the ability to achieve sustainable health outcomes for the community in the long term.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, EPDS is key in public health functioning, so when it comes to evaluating and developing policies and oversight of the health services sector, they provide a framework for actions. Their role was essentially felt during the COVID-19 period, where they acted as fundamental in suppressing the virus’ spread, keeping populations safe, and allowing communities to bounce back. Going forward, it is necessary that public health systems remain strong and that the provision and implementation of these services are being invested. Thus, the populations are assured of their health and well-being worldwide.
References
Appleton, R., Williams, J., Vera San Juan, N., Needle, J. J., Schlief, M., Jordan, H., … & Johnson, S. (2021). Implementation, adoption, and perceptions of telemental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: systematic review. Journal of medical Internet research, 23(12), e31746.
Epps, F., Wiley, Z., Teunis, L. J., Johnson, T. M., Patzer, R. E., Ofotokun, I., & Franks, N. (2021). Peer Reviewed: A Framework for Mobilizing Health Care to Respond to the Community Within the COVID-19 Pandemic. Preventing Chronic Disease, 18.
Perry, I. A. (2024). Assessment, policy development, and assurance: evolving the core functions of public health to address health threats. AJPM focus, 3(1).
Stewart, A. G., Shepherd, W., Jarvis, R., & Ghebrehewet, S. (2023). Environmental Public Health Practice: designing and delivering a locally desirable service. Public Health, 221, 150-159.
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