Healthy People 2020 is a national initiative that sets goals and objectives to enhance an individual's health and well-being in the United States. The policy started in 1979, and it was Surgeon General Julius Richmond's idea. In his article "Healthy People: The Surgeon General's Report on Health Promotion and Disease Prevention," he focused on decreasing preventable deaths and injuries. It consists of committed and quantifiable goals to attain national health promotion and illness prevention across the country. The target audience is all residents of the United States.
Contribution of Healthy People 2020
Healthy People 2020 assist residents in getting information on variations in the health status of the US populations. This information also guides on each recommended goals and objectives at a specified period. People across the country then adopt the policy's goals and objectives. According to their religious background and population groups, communities in both small and large neighborhoods may slightly alter the plans and initiative to meet their requirements and prioritize needs. The policy's aspect is critical to general health and well-being and can be enhanced by utilizing available knowledge.
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Since the launch of the policy, the country has made considerable developments. There is a significant achievement, such as reducing substantial causes of deaths, including cancer, heart disease, infant and maternal mortalities, and reducing risk factors such as elevated cholesterol, tobacco smoking, hypertension, and many more. The policy has also increased childhood vaccinations. In the past years, there has been an increased collaboration of agencies at the national, state, local, and tribe level. Also, both private and public health sections have come together to fight multiple challenges about health.
The fundamental lesson is that broadly available initiatives with attainable goals and objectives can guide people, communities, and stakeholders to enhance well-being. It is vital to engage active partners and increase stakeholders' diversity across public, private, and non-profit organizations to achieve all residents' excellent health and well-being. Healthy People 2020 ensures that they share high-quality information and feedback on progress with partners. For instance, they provide significant changes if the rate of tobacco smoking has reduced, or it still needs continuous efforts.
Mission, Vision, and Foundational Principles of Healthy People 2020
The mission of Healthy People 2020 is to promote, strengthen, and assess the country's initiatives to enhance the health and well-being of all individuals. Its vision is to ensure a society where all individuals can attain maximum potential for health and well-being across the lifespan.
The primary foundational principle of Healthy People 2020 is that the health and well-being of all individuals and societies are viable for working and equitable communities. Promoting health and well-being and disease prevention are related initiatives that consist of physical, cognitive, and social health aspects. Investing to attain maximum point for health and well-being for all people offer multiple benefits to the community.
Additionally, attaining health and well-being needs eradicating health disparities, attaining health equity, and achieving health literacy. It also revolves around promoting and achieving the country's health and well-being through shared responsibilities divided across the national, state, tribal, and societal levels and not leaving behind the public, private and non-profit organizations. Other foundational principles are working to achieve maximum potential for all people's health, and well-being is an element of decision-making and policy development across all levels.
Relationship of Healthy People 2020 with Child Development
Childhood is a vital time of growth and development, and children's experiences, behaviors, and health challenges have long-term impacts. There is a need for initiatives that directly and indirectly enhance children's health, safety, and well-being. Ensuring that children get timely development testing and recommended medical care services is fundamental in finding health challenges early, making it easier to treat. Additionally, positive behaviors such as getting sufficient sleep and eating healthy tend to prevent illness and children's injuries. Other essential factors to enhance excellent childhood development are ensuring equality in racial and ethnic incomes because these aspects tend to relate to health outcomes.
Healthy People 2020 offers a science-based national objective for enhancing the child's health. The aim of child development in the policy is under maternal, infant, and child health topic areas. It is under the system of "infant care." Healthy People 2020 aims to increase the number of breastfed babies and ensure increased rates of employers who have dedicated lactation rooms support programs. The program also seeks to reduce the number of breastfed newborns who get formula supplementation in the first two days of life. The policy ensures that there are increased rates of live births that take place in health facilities that offer recommended care for lactating mothers and their children.
Another relationship is that Healthy People 2020 ensures reduced fetal death rates at 21 weeks or more during pregnancy. The initiative also ensures it reduced children's death within one year and reduced children's mortality rates between 1 to 9 years. The policy also ensures reduced death rates among adolescents and young adults between 10 and 24 years and increased abstinence from alcohol, cigarette smoking, and illicit drugs among adolescents.
In terms of significant child development, Health People 2020 aims to increase the number of children who have access to medical home and children with special needs has continuous access to medical attention. Its relationship with child development also revolved around increasing children with special health needs who received comprehensive, family-centered, and coordinated health systems. The policy also aims to increase the number of screened children and follow examination within specified people. Also, children with a diagnosed condition during birth have the yearly evaluation of services required and received. Additionally, the policy ensures an increased number of very low birth rates at level III hospitals and other small healthcare facilities.
Positive Aspects of Healthy People 2020 on Child Development
Healthy People 2020 has proven to improve health and wellness among children living in the United States. Its central vision is for all individuals to live long and healthy. Currently, there are considerable positive aspects in terms of child development. The policy has ensured that there are high quality and long lives of childhood free of preventable illness, disabilities, injuries, and premature deaths. Also, the initiative has created a social and physical environment that enhances excellent health among children. Due to constant collaboration on all levels, it has promoted children's quality of life, healthy development, behaviors across all their childhood phases.
A great example is safe routes to school in all states. The initiative developed a comprehensive traffic study which argues that bicycle, lanes, curb, speed should be implemented. This program ensures the development and maintenance of walking school busways, reducing speed limits near schools and accessible crosswalks, traffic lights, and curbs at vital intersections. The policy has also ensured an increased number of law enforcement forces in new schools, especially during pick-up and drop-off hours.
Apart from transportation programs, the program has also continually emphasized physical exercise by ensuring increased usage of an alternative transportation mode for school. Adolescents are encouraged to cycle to schools with recommended protective equipment. Also, with recommended physical activities and muscle-strengthening, the program aims to decrease the number of children and adolescents considered overweight or obese and prevent inappropriate weight gain among adolescents. The number of children's deaths and injuries on roads has reduced tremendously from all the efforts.
The program has also positively contributed to child development. Healthy People 2020 has ensured that there is quality education in elementary school, which is vital in reformation early childhood intervention and preventing positive behaviors from fading over time. The program has tackled low teacher-student ration and limited health resources in the school through collaboration with schools and state departments. From multiple reports, the policy has pointed out that school-quality is a crucial aspect that impacts both the short and long-term educational attainment of children and their well-being.
The policy has also ensured that children receive instant primary care. Many children have been screened at birth, which has enabled early treatment of diseases and preventive maintenance. The risk of poor health outcomes has dramatically reduced due to the early detection of illnesses. The program has ensured it has reduced the shortage of primary care providers handling children's cases and transportation and geographic related barriers.
Negative Aspects of Healthy People 2020 on Child Development
Currently, Healthy People Policy have not tacked the cases of clinical preventive research on child development. There is insufficient data on some population segments, and this no current data on a clinical trial. There is no practice-based evidence that assists in documenting the effectiveness of initiatives that address children's societal determination. This aspect implies that there is no community-based participator research that can help close gaps among diverse populations across the country. Healthy People 2020 must assist in filling the gaps and address evidence by linking them with objectives and goals. There should be more attention on tools to measure societal determinants of children's health outcomes such as nutrition, physical activity, and premature deaths.
Healthy People 2020 has also not addressed the health insurance crisis among most children from low socioeconomic backgrounds. Children without health insurance still have problems accessing primary health care. Many children also, without it, are less likely to receive vaccinations and continuous medical care services. Health insurance is no doubt increasing the utilization of medical services and enhancing children's health outcomes since without the plan, goals, and objectives revolving around improving child development will be challenging.
Conclusion
Overall, Healthy People 2020 has been successful in assisting the nation in establishing health goals and objectives. The program has ensured there is a maximum collaboration with other health organizations and communities. Although there are unique challenges, such as gathering data on particular indicators, it is clear that children's development from birth to adolescence has improved tremendously compared to the past years. Obesity, premature death, and overweight have been reduced, transparent that the policy should be pushed to the next ten years.
