Essay
Unit 8 - Promoting Public Health (Assignment One)
- Institution
- PEARSON (PEARSON)
Distinction-level assignment split into four parts: Part 1 - P1 + M1 Part 2: P2 + M1 Part 3: P3 + P4 + M2 + M3 Part 4: D1
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Unit 8: Promoting Public HealthLAA: Examine the strategies for developing public health policy to improve the
health of individuals and the population
LAB: Examine the factors affecting health and the impact of addressing these
factors to improve public health
Date: 26/02/2024
Content:
A.P1 – Explain the strategies for developing public health policy to improve the health of
individuals and the population
A.P2 – Explain how monitoring information to determine patterns of health and ill health
is used by the government to inform the creation of public health policy
B.P3 - Explain how Prader-Willi impacts rates of obesity
B.P4 - Explain the impact of public health policy in minimising the impact of Prader-Willi
syndrome on obesity
A.M1 – Analyse how public health policy is influenced by strategies and patterns of health
and ill health
B.M2 - Assess the extent to which Prader-Willi syndrome impacts on rates of obesity
B.M3 - Assess how health can be improved nationally by addressing Prader-Willi and its
links to obesity
AB.D1 – Evaluate how far the use of strategies and monitoring the health status of the
population helps public health policy to meet its aims in reducing the factors that influence
public health, with reference to a specific demographic area
Page 2 - 9: Section 1 - P1 + M1
Page 10 - 18: Section 2 - P2 + M1
Page 19 - 22: Section 3 - P3 + P4 + M2 + M3
Page 23: Section 4 - D1
,A.P1 – Explain the strategies used to develop public health policy in order for it to meet
its aims
A.M1 – Analyse how public health policy is influenced by strategies and patterns of
health and ill health
Introduction: What is Public Health?
Public health as defined by the NHS is the science of promoting and protecting health and
wellbeing, as well as preventing poor health while prolonging life through the organised
efforts of the public. (Public Health Scotland, 2021)
Policies are defined as a set of ideas that are used for the basis of making decisions. (Collins,
2024) Public health policies are the laws, regulations, strategies and decisions put in place for
society to promote wellbeing, as well as ensuring health aims are met. These policies cover a
range of sectors, like healthcare, insurance education, agriculture, business, etc. (Columbia
University, 2021)
It started as a prevention method against disease as a result of Edwin Chadwick stating that
disease is the reason for poverty – this happened in 1842. In 1848, the Cholera pandemic
broke out, which made the government realise they had to build on the prevention of disease.
The first public aim health measures reflected the idea that miasma (bad smells) was the
cause of disease, leading that to the government emphasising cleanliness. The idea was
wrong, but the measures resulting from it prevented disease to an extent. It was in this year
that the first Public Health Act led to the establishment of a Board of Health, giving towns the
right to appoint a Medical Officer of Health. Over many years, there were many
developments to the Public Health Act, allowing the prevention of disease to become more
accurate. (Billingham et al, 2016)
The government stays informed of the current health problems in the UK by looking at
demographics (data relating to the population, specific to certain groups). These
demographics show the current public health situation of those groups. They may include
age, gender, location, illness, social class, and more. This influences health policies that are
made as the government will put more efforts into public health that is trending in these
demographics. For example, when covid broke out, the government set out policies to keep
people safe from the illness. These included wearing masks, getting vaccinated, and staying
quarantined. (GOV.UK, 2020)
National Aims of Public Health Policy:
The aim of public health policies is to protect and improve the health of the nation, as well as
addressing the inequalities by working with the government (both nationally and locally), the
NHS, and industry, voluntary and community sectors. (GOV.UK, 2024)
The 6 aims of the public health policy of England is to:
● Plan national provision of healthcare and promoting the health of the population,
which means to ensure that healthcare is accessible across the country
, ● Identify and monitor the needs of the population, so as to regularly research
national health problems in order to keep up to date with it
● Identify and reduce inequalities between groups and communities in society, so as
to regularly research the health inequalities in the country
● Protect individuals, groups, and communities in society, meaning to have
strategies in place to protect the people from contagious diseases and
environmental threats
● Address specific health problems in the nation, over a period of time, or in other
words, have strategies to tackle long-term health issues
● Develop programmes to screen for early diagnosis of diseases (or to say, have
measures in place which identify high risk diseases and have regular screening for
them for target groups)
(L.Charlie-Francis, 2024)
Aim 1: Planning National Provision of Healthcare and Promoting the Health of the
Population
National provision is a set of policies to ensure the equality and quality of health and social
care providers, written by the government. (G.Cattanach, 2016) The government stays up to
date with public health matters by conducting research on different demographic groups. This
ensures that the needs of the public are spoken and acknowledged.
One of the current health problems of the UK is obesity. It is evident that 25.9% of adults
within the UK are obese, as well as a further 37.9% being overweight. (Carl Baker, 2023)
The NHS does a lot to address and prevent this, such as by funding the NHS Diabetes
Prevention Programme to last for five years, which includes a digital option in order to target
inequality. This is efficient in that those who are less able can access the programme at home
if they are unable to travel with ease. Additionally, the programme is free as it is funded by
the NHS, allowing more people from poorer backgrounds to have access. (NHS, 2024)
One local campaign to address obesity in Waltham Forest included the ‘Sugar Smart’
campaign. One way that this is done is through the sugar-free pledge for schools, businesses
and organisations. They were encouraged to implement small changes to decrease the amount
of sugar consumed through food and drink provided in the institute. By doing this, students
and workers will consume less sugar every day, addressing the root cause of obesity.
(Waltham Forest, 2024)
Aim 2: Identifying and Monitoring the Needs of the Population
It is important to identify and monitor the most common health issues as it gives the public
and government a head start in detecting threats of disease or health issues early. As a result,
treatment is more effective due to having more research done on the health issue. (NHS,
2021) As a result, the decisions and actions made for public health have a greater chance of
meeting the needs of the general public and create adverse trends in health. (Billingham et al,
2016) Additionally, looking into these issues are essential for the health of the public as
finding the details can prevent the issues from becoming more dangerous. This can be done
by researching the root cause and finding more treatment options. One example of this is
when there is more research done on demographics most affected by the health issue.
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