The Australian Public Health System
Essay Preview: The Australian Public Health System
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Nutritional Medicine is an alternative medicine therapy which centres on the belief that nutrients are the cornerstone for good health and wellbeing (Meldrum 1993). The practice of Nutritional Medicine uses an holistic approach to health and wellness, focussing on nutritional and environmental factors to treat illness, and essentially remedying with food as medicine. This approach is by and large in contrast to a conventional medicine approach of using drugs or surgery to treat illness (Meldrum 1993). Nutrition services are employed in both a clinical and public health setting. Public health is commonly defined as the organised efforts of society to promote, protect, and restore the publics health (Fleming & Parker 2012, p. vii – viii). While a clinical approach to medicine is focussed on treatment and management of an individual patient, public health targets entire populations, aiming for health and awareness across the community (Figure 1.0). As a Public Health Nutritional Medicine practitioner, the ambition is to prevent occurrence of disease through public awareness and education on the subject. This essay will look at how Nutritional Medicine fits within the Australian public health system.
Figure 1.0: an overview of the functions of public health.
Primary functions
Assess health of populations
Monitor health
Evaluate health risks and benefits
Assess health inequalities
Protect the public from threats to health
Prepare for threats to health
Respond to threats to health
Control and mitigate risks to health
Promote health and prevent disease, disability and injury of populations
Promote health and wellbeing
Prevent the occurrence of disease, disability and injury
Detect disease, disability or injury in its early stages
Instrumental functions
Ensure public health capability
Develop and maintain the public health workforce
Develop and maintain public health infrastructure
Build public health partnerships
Build the evidence base for public health
Conduct public health research
Evaluate public health interventions
The role of a Public Health Nutritionist is specialist and extensive (NSA 2007, p. 2). The major nutrition related issues within Australian communities are fruit, vegetable, salt and fat intake, breastfeeding, food security, Indigenous nutrition, and overweight and obesity. Addressing these issues, practitioners work within communities, health services, all levels of government agencies, research, food industries, and nutrition and disease prevention related promotion services. Registered Public Nutritionists are required to be competent, have acquired education and training at a tertiary level, majoring in nutrition, and