The Top 10 Public Health Issues in Healthcare
1. Non-emergent patients using the emergency department as a clinic visit.
2. Mental health patients who are unable to be treated.
3. Constantly treating the same diseases on the same patients because they are unwilling to change their lifestyles.
4. Homeless patients being treated with wounds or serious illness turned back into the streets.
5. MRSA: Growing number of people have it and spreading within our healthcare facilities.
6. COPD, obesity, diabetes, growing numbers have it and no plan to control these preventable diseases.
7. Addiction, heroin has become a epidemic.
8. STD’s and teen pregnancy.
9. Child abuse
10. Poor environmental sanitation and air pollution.
How can you affect public policy? Get to know you public health partners in your own community. Speak out to government officials. Get involved with your community leaders. Join your own professional organization and work with them to initiate change.