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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Margaret Kilduff, PhD, Bergen Center for the Study of Urban Health Systems, Ph.D. Program in Urban Systems, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-School of Nursing, 65 Bergen Street, Room 1117, University Heights, Newark, NJ 07107, 973-972-8552, kildufma@umdnj.edu and C. Douglas Blewett, PhD, AT&T Research Laboratories, AT&T, 32 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10013.
Putting the “Public” back in Public Health is clearly a focus of Public Health Nurses. It is also the focus of researchers at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-School of Nursing interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Urban Health Systems who examine public health nursing issues in a large urban area from a healthcare informatics and network (directed graph) perspective. This paper presents a public-centered informatics and network model of health and the factors that impact it. The definition of health used in the work is taken from the World Health Organization Constitution which states that “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” The model is based in nursing science, computer science, information science, and mathematical modeling. It was developed through interviews with patients and providers, public health professionals, examination of the literature, interdisciplinary collaboration, and insights from the work of Florence Nightingale. The model displays Public Health as a series of interrelated individual health networks formed from health factors (nodes) and a means of impact (connections). Two network categories are proposed: status/state/condition networks (which can explain health disparities) and signal/sign/action networks (which can explain issues of access). The model mathematically demonstrates that the work of Public Health Nurses forms the largest percentage of the individual health factor network nodes and connections. This mathematical result clearly shows that Public Health Nurses through their work with the public are the primary component of Public Health.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) will be able to
Keywords: Public Health Nursing, Public Health Informatics
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.