Public Health Intersection

There is an app for almost everything these days.

I’m constantly amazed with the number and variety of apps available for all sorts of devices.

I recently added an app that reads my e-mails to me when I’m mobile and sends an automatic response to the sender letting them know I’m mobile and can’t respond immediately., (just in case any PHFE HR or California law enforcement officials are reading this).

It got me thinking about what a public health app would have to be designed to do.

It would have to;

• Monitor health status at the community, state national and international levels
• Diagnose and investigate health problems
• Inform, educate and empower people to become healthier and more health conscious
• Mobilize communities to address health problems
• Develop policies and plans to protect, promote an improve health
• Enforce laws and regulations to protect, promote and improve health
• Link people to needed health services
• Assure a competent workforce
• Evaluate health services
• Conduct research for new innovations

Some of you may have identified the above as a thinly veiled list of the 10 Essential Services of Public Health.

I urge all of us to think about new and innovative ways to approach and describe the work of public health.

I’m interested to hear your strategies and new ways to describe and promote public health practice.

Me I’m working on developing the I-PHone