Preventive Medicine: Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Prevention - Essay Sample

Introduction

Traditionally, preventive medicine encompasses primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention. The goals of preventive medicine are to promote general health, prevent disease, and to apply epidemiologic methods to these objectives (Ali & Katz, 2015). These levels of prevention differ in application and the age of the individual concerned.

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Primary prevention is mainly focused on encouraging change in the patient's lifestyle, thus promoting healthy behavior such as diet and physical activity. Physicians that practice healthy living make the best example for their patients (modeling), and thus reinforce it to their patients the need for healthy living (Ali & Katz, 2015). Children need to be helped, especially by their parents, whereas adults would find best examples from those that they hold with high regard. Older adults, on the other hand, would especially require their caregivers to help them in healthy living regimes.

Secondary prevention involves routine screening, systemic health checks and adopting preventive services and hence enhancing reduction of risk for chronic diseases such as diabetes, some forms of cancers and cardiovascular disease (Ali & Katz, 2015). Children and young adults require infrequent checks compared to older people who can be having complicated conditions that require more frequent screening.

Lastly, tertiary prevention involves directly influencing the disease process to reduce morbidity and improve the quality of life of the patient (Ali & Katz, 2015). Treatment of chronic conditions and the administration of supplements may be involved in tertiary prevention. All age groups in need of tertiary prevention have to undergo treatment suitable to them. Young people tend to require less treatment and monitoring according to their condition. In contrary to, older people would need a lengthened treatment regime coupled with close supervision.

School Nurses Collaboration With Other Groups

The school nurse has direct responsibility for taking care of injuries and illnesses that students may suffer within the school setting. For this reason, cases may require that they do have to collaborate with many other groups such as educational professionals, parents, other health professionals, and even state law enforcement officers. In these collaborations, care has to be taken in the manner in which patient information is handled and transferred. It is imperative that only authorized parties access protected health information of the patient (Hedden, Jessop & Field, 2014).

Various laws have been put to place to govern these interactions and enable smooth inter-disciplinary associations. Such laws include the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) and the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). FERPA protects the privacy of student education records which many times in primary schools may include health information and providing certain rights to the students and parents such as the need for consent before disclosure of certain personal information. On the other hand, HIPAA includes security and privacy for the students' protected health information (PHI). Stringent regulations are placed such that a violation of HIPAA may result in strict action against violators. Collection and storage of patient information electronically or any other way applies to established standards and patient rights (Hedden, Jessop & Field, 2014).

It is true that the CDC impacts on the activities of school nurses more than any other agency since the school nurses' environment are potentially volatile as cross-infections and epidemics are quite probable. On the other hand, matter such as immunizations and vaccination and take place more in schools. The CDC is highly interested in such cases and has formulated various regulations to help the working of the health aspect of the school environment. School nurses do well to familiarize with these regulations and sticking to them in their practice.

Difference Between HIPAA and FERPA and Their Impact on School Health Practice

In as much as HIPAA and FERPA have similarities and overlap in securing the privacy of collected information, several differences are evident. One difference is that HIPAA covers PHI, which identifies to a particular person whereas FERPA covers personally identifiable information of a student and may include student's health records. It is worth to note that education records covered by FERPA are separate from PHI. Public health authorities cannot access education records covered by FERPA however, authorized public health officials can access PHI of HIPAA covered entities without their prior consent in emergencies (Hedden, Jessop & Field, 2014).

HIPAA and FERPA directly influence school health practice in the protection of student information and handling of the same. Each educational institution or school need to critically examine how to apply these regulations as the situation in one establishment may differ from another. For instance, in primary schools, health information is mostly integrated with educational records and therefore, FERPA in applied exclusively in such a case. On the other hand, HIPAA would be readily enforced to health record for students in secondary or levels for the fact that this information is separate from educational records. In these institutions, one may find an infirmary operating in the confines of the institution.

CAPTA and How It Affects School Health Practice

Of significant social concern is the issue of child abuse and neglect. Children who have had to endure abuse and or neglect have a high probability of experiencing delayed development and language or cognitive skill impairment. As such, these children grow up having greater societal and behavioral problems and thus end up abusing drugs, being depressed, being involved in crime and many other detrimental practices. As a result, CAPTA was formulated to counter child abuse and neglect (Vizel &Davis, 2015).

CAPTA was created to focus on preventing and responding to cases of abuse and neglect of children from a single federal perspective. This effectually makes states responsible for acting of allegations of child abuse and neglect and ensuring the safety of the children before the states can receive grants under the act. The act ensures further that the states define what child abuse and neglect are in a manner that is parallel to CAPTA's definition. CAPTA states that "at a minimum, any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker, which causes death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation, or an act or failure at which presents an imminent risk of serious harm."

With ever increasing cases of child abuse and neglect is it important that health facilities found within educational establishments to report identified instances of child abuse and neglect to the relevant authorities. This would require that the school health professional undertake screening of the minor to establish abuse or neglect. A proper investigation should follow up with the child then placed under proper protective custody. Alternatively, the family or the caregiver could be interviewed, and the case discussed with a social worker to help alleviate the situation (Vizel &Davis, 2015).

The Connection Between School Health and Public Health

Literacy in matters health has been embraced by numerous schools. Schools worldwide play a role in achieving public health objectives of their respective jurisdictions. The schools do play this role together simultaneously with their educational responsibilities. Hence the connection between schools' primary purpose of education combined with school health is directly linked with public health. Despite challenges that may crop up, strategies are put to place to ensure that children are healthy and able to learn.

School health policies promote public health, for instance, increasing the access to adequate water and sanitation facilities, provision of basic hygiene education in the curriculum, integration of family life and family planning education in secondary school curriculum, women's rights education, the prohibition of smoking and substance abuse in schools accompanied with skills-based health education. Also, policies that prohibit discriminatory practices to people with certain conditions and their families are included.

These policies and intervention directly impact public health as when they are observed, public health improves. On the other hand, jurisdictions where these policies are not upheld a general decline of public health result. School health too impacts the attendance of the students. For this reason, a partnership between stakeholders in the public health sector and the schools has to be established. The communities hosting these schools, too, need to collaborate with the schools in PTA decisions that promote school health. Students themselves as they are part of the public have to be actively involved.

References

Ali, A., & Katz, D. (2015). Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. American Journal Of Preventive Medicine, 49(5), S230-S240. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2015.07.019

Hedden, E. M., Jessop, A. B., & Field, R. I. (2014). An Education in contrast: State-by-state assessment of school immunization records requirements. American journal of public health, 104(10), 1993-2001.

Viezel, K. D., & Davis, A. S. (2015). Child maltreatment and the school psychologist. Psychology in the Schools, 52(1), 1-8.