Lesson 3.3: Public Health

Overview

This lesson focuses on what public health is, who provides public health services, and how public health efforts affect the health of individuals and societies.

Learning Targets

  • LO8: Use examples to explain public and community health services.
  • LO9: Explain how public health influences you individually.
  • L10: Describe two careers related to public health.
  • L11: Compare and contrast the three different levels of prevention.
  • L12: Advocate for public health services.

Preparation

For the Warm-Up Activity: Write the Journal Question on the board or identify (and copy as needed) the worksheets you plan to use:

For the Content Focus: Open the Lesson 3.3 PowerPoint slides or make copies of the Lesson 3.3 Note-Taking Guide.

For the Lesson Focus: Copy the Lesson 3.3 Skill-Building Challenge Worksheet: Accessing Community Health Resources.

Warm-Up Activity

Select a warm-up activity to help get your class focused and on task.

  • Journal Question: What health services do you think should be available at your school? Identify and explain at least two different ideas.
    • Option: Write or project the question and have students respond in their journal or on their “bell ringer” sheet as they enter class.
    • Option: Have students discuss the question with a partner or in a small group.
  • Vocabulary Review: Have students work individually, in pairs, or in small groups to complete the Lesson 3.3 Vocabulary Review Worksheet
  • Quiz: Have students complete the Lesson 3.3 Quiz to assess their prior knowledge.
    • Option: Collect the quiz and use it alongside a posttest to demonstrate student learning.
    • Option: Have students share their answers with a partner and then go over the answers together as a class.

Lesson Content

Review the content from the textbook lesson.

Lesson Focus: Accessing Community Health Resources

  1. Provide each student with one copy of the Lesson 3.3 Skill-Building Challenge Worksheet: Accessing Community Health Resources.
  2. Review the directions for the worksheet with students.
  3. Have students work individually or with a partner to research resources in the community. If students don’t have access to the Internet during class to do the work, consider having them switch partners every two to three minutes to see how many resources they can identify as a class based on their own knowledge. Then have students complete the missing details as homework.
  4. Once students have had time to complete the worksheet, call on groups to contribute one resource from their list. Record their answers on the board until you have a sufficient number and variety of resources. Have students work in small groups to create a brochure, flyer, or web page that they can give to the school counselor or nurse as a resource. If possible, ask the counselor or nurse to provide feedback on the student’s work and to point out any important resources they feel are missing.

Challenge Activity

Have students needing an additional challenge work on the following Thinking Critically task.

We know that people who have more education generally have better health. Why do you think that is the case? Provide as many reasons as you can think of and use specific examples when you can.

Reflection and Summary

Review the critical content from today’s lesson. Review the learning targets and ask students to answer each question posed.

Can you...

  • Use examples to explain public and community health services?

    Vaccinations are an example of public health which seeks to protect and improve the health of large populations and individuals. Community health is focused more specifically on groups of people in a geographic area. Parks and recreation services are an example of community health.

  • Explain how public health influences you individually?

    Your health is affected by the people around you, the community you live in, the society you live in, and the policy and rules that govern your society. In this way, it is related to public health and the services it provides.

  • Describe two careers related to public health?

    Epidemiologist: researches and investigates patterns of disease

    Social worker: provides counseling and assistance to people in need (e.g., children, veterans, older adults, people experiencing homelessness)

    Public health nurse: focuses on working to improve the health of a specific group or community

    Public health educator: provides education to a community in order to promote health or prevent the spread of disease

    Public health analyst: gathers and tracks data about public health activities and programs to determine their effectiveness

    Health inspector: ensures that state laws and sanitary codes are followed in a community

  • Compare and contrast the three different levels of prevention?

    Primary prevention is focused on preventing a disease from starting; secondary prevention is focused on preventing severity of disease; and tertiary prevention is focused on preventing death among those with the disease.

  • Advocate for public health services?

    This should have been completed on the Skill-Building Challenge Worksheet: Accessing Community Health Resources.

Assessment

Complete one or more of the following assessment tasks for this lesson.

  • Quiz: Have students take the Lesson 3.3 quiz.
  • Reviewing Vocabulary: Collect the Lesson 3.3 Vocabulary Review Worksheet and evaluate it for accuracy.
  • Note-Taking Guide: Collect the completed Lesson 3.3 Note-Taking Guide and spot-check one or more items for completion and accuracy.
  • Skill-Building Challenge Worksheet: Have students submit the Skill-Building Challenge Worksheet: Accessing Community Health Resources and use the Holistic Rubric: Decision-Making to evaluate their skill development.
  • Journal Question: Ask students to respond to the Journal Question again, adding information they learned from today’s class. Require a one-paragraph response that uses proper grammar.
  • Test: Have students take the Chapter Test, which covers material from all three lessons, or create a test using the online test bank.
  • Test: Have students take the Unit I Test, which covers chapters 1, 2, and 3. You may also create your own unit test from the individual chapter tests, if you prefer.

Take It Home

Research a global health issue. Start by visiting the website of the World Health Organization to help you identify an issue of particular interest. Gather information and report the types of actions being taken to help reduce or eliminate the disease, threat, or condition.