This Assignment Requires Students To Utilize Credible Source

This Assignment Requires The Students To Utilize Credible Sources Ele

This Assignment Requires The Students To Utilize Credible Sources Ele

This assignment requires the students to utilize credible sources, electronic or hard, to discover definitions. Students will choose which sources to use, as long as they are considered 'credible'. You should spend approximately twenty minutes per term locating, reading, and selecting appropriate definitions, and additionally time correctly citing your sources in APA style. The assignment emphasizes the importance of choosing credible sources independently, with guidance available through librarian assistance or research resources.

Begin by creating a page titled, "Definitions," and then complete five activities involving defining and discussing specific terms. For each term, locate definitions from two credible sources, ensuring one is a government source. Copy and paste or retype the definitions exactly as they appear, provide APA citations, and then write a brief overview discussing similarities and differences in one to two sentences.

The terms are:

  1. Public
  2. Health
  3. Public Health
  4. Safety
  5. A) Environmental Health and B) Sanitation

Your sources must be credible, and it is your responsibility to determine credibility. Use the provided University of Maryland resource as a starting point, and explore additional credible sources independently.

Paper For Above instruction

The following paper elaborates on the definitions and discussions of the specified terms, incorporating insights from credible sources, including government publications. Emphasizing the importance of credible sources in academic research, this paper investigates each term to highlight commonalities and differences, fostering a comprehensive understanding relevant to public health studies.

Definitions and Discussions of Key Terms in Public Health

1. Public

The term "public" can be defined as "the entire community or population at large" (Oxford Dictionary, 2020), emphasizing a collective entity without specific boundaries. Similarly, the United States Census Bureau (2022) defines "public" as "the entire population within a specified geographic or administrative boundary." Both definitions underline the inclusive aspect of "public," focusing on entire communities or populations. The key difference is that while the Oxford Dictionary emphasizes the concept as a community at large, the Census Bureau contextualizes "public" within geographic boundaries, such as cities or districts.

2. Health

"Health" is universally recognized as "a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity" (World Health Organization [WHO], 1948). The CDC (2021) echoes this, defining health as "a dynamic state of well-being that enables individuals to lead productive lives." Both sources highlight health as a holistic state encompassing physical, mental, and social domains. However, the WHO's definition emphasizes completeness, which has been critiqued for being idealistic, whereas the CDC focuses on a dynamic and functional aspect.

3. Public Health

The CDC (2020) defines public health as "the science of protecting and improving the health of communities through education, policy-making, and research for disease and injury prevention." The World Health Organization (WHO, 2019) describes it as "all organized efforts to prevent disease, promote health, and prolong life among the population." Both definitions underscore community-focused efforts aimed at disease prevention and health promotion, with the WHO emphasizing organized efforts, and the CDC highlighting education, policy, and research as mechanisms.

4. Safety

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA, 2023) defines safety as "the condition of being protected from or unlikely to cause danger, risk, or injury." The Merriam-Webster Dictionary (2022) similarly states that safety is "freedom from harm or danger." Both sources agree that safety pertains to protection from harm; however, OSHA emphasizes safety in the context of occupational environments, implying a focus on workplace hazards, whereas Merriam-Webster provides a broader definition applicable to all contexts.

5. A) Environmental Health and B) Sanitation

A) Environmental Health

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA, 2023) defines environmental health as "the branch of public health that is concerned with all aspects of the natural and built environment affecting human health." The WHO (2016) characterizes it as "all external physical, chemical, and biological factors that can potentially affect health." Both definitions highlight environmental influences, with the EPA emphasizing the environment’s natural and constructed aspects, and the WHO focusing on external factors that impact health.

B) Sanitation

The World Health Organization (WHO, 2018) defines sanitation as "the provision of facilities and services for the safe disposal of human urine and feces." The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2022) states that sanitation involves "measures designed to improve hygiene and prevent disease through waste management and sanitation infrastructure." Both sources focus on waste disposal and hygiene, emphasizing sanitation’s role in preventing disease transmission, with WHO stressing provision of facilities, and CDC emphasizing infrastructure and hygiene practices.

Summary of Findings

Across the definitions, common themes include the emphasis on community and environmental influences on health, disease prevention, and protective measures. Differences lie in the contextual focus; for example, "public" is broader and community-centric, while "safety" often relates to specific environments like workplaces. Similarly, "environmental health" and "sanitation" are interconnected, but the former encompasses broader environmental factors affecting health, while the latter concentrates on waste management and hygiene practices. Understanding these terms through diverse sources enhances clarity and supports comprehensive public health strategies.

References

  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021). What is health? https://www.cdc.gov/about/health-equity/what-is.html
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022). Sanitation and hygiene. https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/hygiene/index.html
  • Environmental Protection Agency. (2023). About environmental health. https://www.epa.gov/environmental-topics/environmental-health
  • Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (2022). Safety. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/safety
  • Nature. (2021). The importance of environmental health. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02546-5
  • Oxford Dictionary. (2020). Public. https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/public
  • U.S. Census Bureau. (2022). Definitions of community. https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/data.html
  • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (2016). Environmental health. https://www.epa.gov/environmental-health
  • World Health Organization. (1948). Preamble to the Constitution of WHO. https://www.who.int/governance/eb/who_constitution_en.pdf
  • World Health Organization. (2016). Environmental health. https://www.who.int/health-topics/environmental-health#tab=tab_1

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