How Health Indicators Support Quality
In organizations such as public health entities that provide services rather than products, quality can be somewhat difficult to define. One way to grasp quality is within the context of already established goals and objectives. A U.S. public health organization, Healthy People 2020 (USDHHS, 2010), has developed a set of priority areas with a goal of attaining high-quality, longer lives for individuals that are free of preventable disease, disability, injury, and premature death. The World Health Organization, an international organization, has developed a similar list that it calls the Millennium Development Goals. These are goals agreed on by all 191 United Nations member states aimed at combating "poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation, and discrimination against women" (WHO, n.d.-a). These are overarching goals with sub-goals or priority areas that seek to focus efforts on certain priority areas and framework objectives. Although you may not live in the United States, such well-established and fairly universal public health goals and objectives as the Healthy People 2020 priority areas and the Millennium Goals could also be helpful in advancing quality in certain identified public health problems that you might encounter as a public health administrator.
Read the priority areas established by these two organizations from your Learning Resources:
• Healthy People 2020 framework (USDHHS, 2010)
• World Health Organization (WHO, n.d.-a)
Then select one priority area from one of these two organizations that you believe might advance quality in addressing your Final Project health issue.
An explanation of the role that U.S. national (Healthy People 2020) and international (WHO Millennium Development Goals) goals and objectives would play in advancing quality in public health. Then, list the priority area and organization you selected and explain how this priority area might advance quality in the Final Project health issue described. Be specific and provide examples in your response.