Mission and Vision of Public Health

Mission and Vision of Public Health

Answer the following Questions:

  1. What do the public health mission and vision statements you read this week have in
    common? Based on these, how would you articulate in your own words the mission and
    vision of public health in this country?
  2. Briefly summarize one of the findings and recommendations from Future of the Public’s
    Health in the 21st Century that is of particular interest to you. Explain how acting on this
    recommendation would help to further the mission and vision of public health.
  3. What are the implications if individuals in a public health organization do not know
    what its mission or vision is?

Mission and Vision of Public Health

Question 1
Most of the vision and mission statements I read have some similarities. The visions and
mission provide the desired expectation of the organization. Most of them focus on providing
quality healthcare through various interventions (Collins & Porras, 1996). They also provide
insights on the prevention strategies the organization have embraced to improve patient heath
outcome. They also highlight on the commitment of the staffs to ensure that quality healthcare is

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provided. In general, the vision and mission focus on the aims, goals and objectives of the health
facilities.

Question 2
‘Future of the Public’s Health in the 21 st Century’ provides various findings and
recommendations. The most interesting finding that interests me is the fact that increased
insurance coverage will help to reduce ethnic and racial disparities in accessing to health care
services. Furthermore, this will help reduce disparities that have been experienced in mortality
and morbidity among various ethnic groups (Gostin, Boufford & Martinez, 2004). On the other
hand, the recommendation that interested me is ensuring lifelong learning on nurse practitioners.
This will help to improve quality of care in health facilities. Furthering on these findings and
recommendations will further the mission and vision of health in terms of ensuring equality in
accessibility to healthcare. It will also help to reduce the number of death in future due to
increased accessibility to healthcare and competent nurse practitioners.
Question 3
If individuals in public health organization do not know what is mission and vision, healthcare
services will not meet the expected threshold. Vision and mission statement provide a sense of
direction to the leaders and staffs. Therefore, lack of knowledge will make it difficult for the
health facilities to operate efficiently as they will not have objectives, aims or goals. The
implication is poor quality healthcare.

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References

Collins, J. C., & Porras, J. I. (1996). Building your company’s vision. Harvard Business Review,
74(5), 65-77.
Gostin, L., Boufford, J. I., & Martinez, R. M. (2004). The future of the public’s health: Vision,
values, and strategies. Health Affairs, 23(4), 96-107.