Academic Integrity: tutoring, explanations, and feedback — we don’t complete graded work or submit on a student’s behalf.

Recent data show that Americans consume, on average, more than three times the r

ID: 442216 • Letter: R

Question

Recent data show that Americans consume, on average, more than three times the recommended level of sodium per day in their food and beverages. High salt intake contributes to high blood pressure and its complications—stroke, heart attack, congestive heart failure, and kidney failure. In fact, thousands of lives could be saved if sodium consumption could be lowered in people with hypertension (high blood pressure).

Question: Contrast how a health care plan might address this problem in its patient population using the medical model versus how a public health official would address this problem using the population health model.

Explanation / Answer

Public Health versus Medical Models of Professional Training

Public Health Model

Medical Model

Primary focus on population

Primary focus on the individual

Public service ethic, tempered by concerns for the individual

Personal service ethic, conditioned by awareness of social responsibilities

Emphasis on prevention and health promotion for the whole community

Emphasis on diagnosis, treatment, and care for the whole patient

Paradigm employs a spectrum of interventions aimed at the environment, human behavior and lifestyle, and medical care

Paradigm places predominant emphasis on medical care

Public Health Model

Medical Model

Primary focus on population

Primary focus on the individual

Public service ethic, tempered by concerns for the individual

Personal service ethic, conditioned by awareness of social responsibilities

Emphasis on prevention and health promotion for the whole community

Emphasis on diagnosis, treatment, and care for the whole patient

Paradigm employs a spectrum of interventions aimed at the environment, human behavior and lifestyle, and medical care

Paradigm places predominant emphasis on medical care