Public Health Partnerships
Health and well-being are important aspects in every person’s life. To address the issues revolving around these aspects, the public health community has been eyeing on community health partnerships. They believe it to be an essential element in carrying out meaningful processes aimed towards community health improvement. Partnerships between health departments and other public health agencies can hasten the resolution of health problems. Furthermore, collaboration between these agencies prevent replication of services, control public with private supplies, and direct existing supplies on the most important health needs.
These public health partnerships can benefit the hospital, the health department, and the community in different ways. These benefits include:
- For the hospital. Prevention resources are made available in the community level. This then result in a healthier lifestyle among community members. As a result, there are fewer hospitalizations and/or re-hospitalizations. For instance, a patient with diabetes when properly educated in the community would be able to maintain blood sugar levels within normal limits. Thus, patient remains at home and lives healthy.
- For the health department. Collaboration between the health department and the community enriches and boosts the ability of both sectors to recognize and deal with health-related problems in the community. The health department will experience a reduction in the cost of expenses associated with the treatment of chronically ill patients. For instance, diabetic patients with government covered insurances. These people may adopt healthier practices that would improve their health status. As a result, hospital expenses shouldered by the health department will be reduced.
- For the community. Bringing together the different health programs in the community would improve their effectiveness and increase the opportunities of patients with chronic diseases and their families to effectively carry out the patient’s health care needs and access nutrition education and counseling. For instance, a diabetes awareness education and screening program introduced in local schools and business establishments. This practice would not only involve those who are not busy, but will also be accessible even to those who are busy with their careers. This is because the community health personnel are the ones who will reach out to these people. This results in a more knowledgeable and healthy community.
Successful partnerships between public health agencies, nonprofit organizations and/or hospitals, and communities can manage their resources to cultivate and employ efficient, organized, and non-redundant programs to improve the community’s health and well-being. Furthermore, the sustainability and effectiveness of the partnerships and their programs are dependent on the partners’ teamwork, integrity, commitment, and/or influence.