Government health programs provide services to help people with disabilities, chronic conditions and other diseases. The types of services offered by these programs may vary, but they generally include counseling and education, treatment of disease, and support for the family and patient. These programs can be part of a national or state health care system, or they can be privately run non-profit organizations. Some of these organizations offer treatment on a sliding fee scale, and some of them are integrated.
Health research programs produce evidence to support the use of medicines, medical devices and healthcare services in ways that improve outcomes for patients. They do this by collaborating with researchers, academic institutions, healthcare professionals and consumer groups. They also disseminate the results of their research and promote its implementation and use.
Public health programs protect people from genetic diseases, infectious agents and environmental threats that can threaten the community’s well-being. They also develop new, faster and more accurate diagnostic tests to improve the ability to detect these threats. The Wadsworth Center is one of ten laboratories in the CDC’s Laboratory Response Network for Chemical Threats.
School-based programs are designed to prevent problems that may negatively affect students’ physical or mental health, learning and development. These problems include drugs, alcohol and tobacco abuse, violence and teen pregnancies. School-based prevention activities can be delivered through classroom or school-based health services, peer and family programs or community-based initiatives.
A comprehensive school health program includes health education in a regular curriculum at all grade levels. The curriculum content focuses on priority areas of concern to students (eg, personal and social responsibility, environmental health, body growth and development, nutritional health, family life and human sexuality). A two-way communication system between schools and families is established to facilitate student participation in school and community activities.
The goal of a school health program is to enable all students to achieve their fullest potential through a holistic approach. The program provides health services in a safe environment and is coordinated with the health services of related in-school professionals, with the community’s primary care providers and with the local, county and state health and social service agencies. The district’s chief administrator and school health coordinating council receive, at least annually, reports of actions taken and results achieved related to desired student outcomes. The pre-health program adviser in 1122 Boylan Hall provides guidance to undergraduate students with an interest in pursuing a career in the health sciences by helping them select majors and course sequences, providing information about research and internship opportunities, organizing review classes for standardized tests and assisting with professional school application procedures. The office strives to produce the most qualified, confident and well-informed pre-health students possible.