Essay: Public health in a border region

Discussion: Global Health Issues: On the Border Line In the United States, the average lifespan has risen from 49 years in 1900 to 78 years in 2006 (Leonhardt, 2006). Shockingly, some of the lowest socioeconomic countries still have a life expectancy of less than 50 years (Shi & Johnson, 2014), however. Huge health disparities such as these still exist between countries, and remain one of the great moral and intellectual problems of our time. According to Shi and Singh (2012), global health is “the area of study, research, and practice that places priority on improving health and achieving equity in health for all people worldwide.” Today, countries around the world are faced with increases in the type and number of chronic illnesses and infectious diseases, among other global health problems. In addition, governments must recognize threats of bioterrorism and new illnesses caused by changes in behavior, diet, and environmental influences.

Global health is constantly evolving. The world is more interconnected than ever before through technology and transportation, and health is directly affected by this and other trends such as the aging population in some countries and increases in natural and human-made disasters. As global health evolves, so, too, must leaders in public health positions. Public health leaders and managers must know how to respond to global health challenges and develop an effective workforce to ameliorate them.

For this week’s Discussion, review Box 27.2 in Chapter 27 of Shi and Johnson (2014) that lists the Millennium Project Goals and Their Related Targets. Consider those most related to the field of public health and the challenges posed in reaching these targets. Consider also the leadership strategies needed to ensure a more effective public health workforce to reach these goals. Then, select a border region in a different region of the world than you grew up in or live in now. Review the Discussion posts that have already been submitted to make sure that you select a different border region than has been used before.

By Day 3Post an explanation of how serving as an administrator in public health in a border region might be a challenge. Describe at least three strategies you, as a public health leader, would employ to ensure a more effective public health workforce and how you would apply them.

You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.

Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.

Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.

The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.