December 16, 2010
Public Health a Model for Public Education with Howard Goldstein, M.D. and Clement Osei, M.D
The Rockland County Commissioner of Public Health Joan H. Facelle, MD, and other specialists in health provision engaged in a conversation to discuss possible strategies in education that could be modeled on successful practices in public health and health maintenance. We know that the nation’s health does not depend primarily on the goodness of its hospitals nor upon the quality of available medical treatment. The health of the people of the nation is in part based on the nutritional and exercise habits of the people; on the adequacy with which we dispose of sewage and garbage; our avoidance of airborne pollutants; and the availability of potable water. Health maintenance and the health of the population are based on the quality of available conditions of life and the relevant attitudes and behaviors of the persons in whom we seek to enable good health. Can it be that the effectiveness of public education is symbiotic with access to education relevant conditions of life and the attitudes and behaviors of learners?