ESSENTIAL SERVICE #1:

MONITOR HEALTH OF THE COMMUNITY

·         Conduct community health assessment to identify public health risks and inform public health planning

·         Review available health data to determine most prevalent health problem afflicting community

·         Identify groups of people who might have a greater chance of becoming ill because of where they live or work, because of social economic situations, or because they have behaviors that can cause health problems

·         Develop community health profile to educate community and community leaders about public health promotion

·         Establish website to provide community information about persistent health problems within community and how to prevent these problems

ESSENTIAL SERVICE #2:

DIAGNOSE & INVESTIGATE HEALTH COMMUNITY PROBLEMS

·         Investigate foodborne outbreaks

·         Communicate serious health threats to community in timely manner

·         Develop emergency response plans for public health emergencies

·         Respond to public health emergencies including disease outbreaks or terrorism

·         Ensure access to laboratory with capacity for sampling

ESSENTIAL SERVICE #3:

INFORM, EDUCATE & EMPOWER

·         Provide health information that is easy for people to get and understand

·         Develop and provide community with information on seasonal and ongoing public health issues including Influenza and West Nile Virus prevention, cancer and obesity prevention, and bioterrorism preparedness

·         Provide health promotion activities like cholesterol screening, blood pressure screening, and flu clinics

·         Support legislation that will improve the community’s health, such as clean indoor air legislation

ESSENTIAL SERVICE #4:

MOBILIZE COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS

·         Convene other health organizations (e.g., hospital) within community to develop community-wide health improvement plan

·         Coordinate agreements between other community health organizations to determine specific roles and responsibilities toward improving community’s health   

ESSENTIAL SERVICE #5:

POLICY DEVELOPMENT

·         Advocate for policies that will improve public health, such as clean indoor air law

·         Testify at public hearings in support of legislation that will improve public health

ESSENTIAL SERVICE #6

ENFORCE LAWS AND REGULATIONS

·         Enforce public health code

·         Protect drinking water supplies

·         Conduct timely inspections (i.e., restaurants, tattoo parlors, campgrounds, day care)

·         Conduct timely environmental inspections (i.e., septic systems, pools, lead abatement)

·         Follow up on hazardous environmental exposures and preventable injuries

·         Serve quarantine/isolation order to individual infected with infectious diseases such as Tuberculosis, SARS, or Smallpox

·         Assist in revising outdated public health laws and development of proposed public health legislation

ESSENTIAL SERVICE #7

LINK PEOPLE TO HEALTH SERVICES

·         Establish and maintain referral network for provision of personal health services to ensure that people who cannot afford health care get the care they need

·         Distribute mass quantities of antibiotics or vaccines in event of widespread disease outbreak (e.g., pandemic flu) or bioterro-related attack (i.e., smallpox or anthrax)

·         Identify and locate underserved populations such as low-income families, minorities, and the uninsured

·         Provide culturally and language appropriate materials so that special groups of people can be linked with preventive services

ESSENTIAL SERVICE #8

ASSURE A COMPETENT WORKFORCE

·         Fund professional development opportunities for staff

·         Test emergency response plan during mock event to evaluate performance

ESSENTIAL SERVICE #9

EVALUATE QUALITY

·         Monitor trends in disease rates to assess effectiveness of disease prevention activities

·         Monitor trends in risk factors (i.e., unprotected sex, drinking-and-driving, smoking) to assess effectiveness of health promotion activities

·         Evaluate effectiveness of public health programs and services

ESSENTIAL SERVICE #10

RESEARCH FOR NEW INSIGHTS

·         Monitor rapidly changing disease prevention research and health promotion research

·         Revise practices in order to remain current with recommended practices resulting from evidenced-based research