EXTERNAL CAPABILITY 15: ENABLING PUBLIC HEALTH AND HEALTH CARE SYSTEMS
Effectiveness of health systems
Overview
Functioning 1. Extent to which health care and public health system environment interacts with individual to build and enable health agency
Functioning 2. Extent to which health care and public health system environment protects health and safety of public
Functioning 3. Health care and public health system effectiveness and accountability
What is it?
Enabling public health and health care systems is the external capability of a public health and health care system that builds and enables individual health agency, protects public health and safety, and is effective, efficient, and accountable.
Why is it important?
Enabling public health and health care systems are important because the relationship between individuals and systems is dynamic and mutually influential. Public health and health care systems can be structured to enable, encourage, and build health agency, or they can stifle it. They also play an important role in protecting the decentralized, collective good of public health and safety – something we all benefit from, but that no one alone can create. Finally, public health and health care system effectiveness, efficiency, and accountability ensures that those seeking care receive it, and that all are living up to their greatest potential of health and flourishing.
What does it look like?
A society with enabling public health and health care systems may have, for example, protects the population from infectious diseases through detection, testing, quarantine, and isolation policies and practices. At the individual level, a health coach for diabetes management builds and enables individual health agency. A health coach helps to build the internal knowledge and skills, as well as provide the external support and encouragement, for individuals to achieve health functionings and agency. Enabling public health and health care systems would also protect public health and safety through, for example, diabetes drug regulation, providing accurate health information, providing regulation and oversight of providers such as doctors and nurses, ensuring best practices and evidence-based delivery of health care goods and services; in general, providing services that effectively promote health, and being accountable to individuals and the public. Health policy and the health care systems must address the health care needs and
promote the health of every individual in the population.
How do WE do it?
We can strengthen the capability of enabling public health and health care systems by first taking an honest assessment of the current state of public health and health care systems. Where do individuals feel empowered, effective, and heard versus passive, frustrated, or powerless? What are positive interventions or programs that are contributing to the success of those with outstanding health agency, and how might we build those programs into our public health and health care systems? Where are public health and health care systems failing to protect public health and safety? How might they positively contribute and improve public health and safety? One major step to improve the effectiveness, efficiency, and accountability of the public health and health care systems in the United States is to implement a universal health coverage scheme. This would improve effectiveness and efficiency by risk pooling and
increase accountability by including all individuals’ voices.
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