Public Health

The first thing I learned during Professor Flick’s presentation today is that prevention is a form of intervention. There are 3 types of prevention: primary, secondary, and tertiary. Primary intervention prevents a condition, disease or injury before it ever occurs. For example, back injury prevention programs or immunizations. Secondary intervention reduces impact of a condition, disease or injury that has already occurred. An example of this is cancer screenings. Tertiary intervention is limiting the impact of an ongoing illness or injury that has lasting effects. An example would be rehabilitation after a stroke.

The second thing I learned during today’s class is the definition of health literacy. Health literacy is the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions. Some things that health literacy depends on are communication skills, culture, and demands of healthcare and public health systems. Health literacy affects the client’s ability to navigate the healthcare system, share personal information, engage in self-care and chronic-disease management, and understand concepts such as probability and risk.