Norma Schira

Publication Date

5-1986

Advisor(s) - Committee Chair

C.W. Higgins, David Dunn, Robert Baum

Comments

Original degree program was Health and Safety.

Degree Program

Department of Public Health

Degree Type

Master of Science

Abstract

The National Health Planning and Resources Development Act. Public Law 93-641, the last major step in the regulation of the health care system, created a network of health system agencies and state level health planning agencies. Subsequent legislation, the Health Planning and Resources Development Amendment 1929, Public Law 96-79, amended 1974 Law and changed the role and function of health systems agencies to include more regulatory activities. By 1981, the activities of Health System Agencies were being curtained by the action of the Reagan administration.

The Health promotion/wellness movement which seeks to improve health has been developing as a compliment to medical medicine for several years. Previous research has determined that health systems agencies were active in health promotion and identified several planning and implementation activities related to this involvement. This is a survey of health systems agencies to determine their efforts in healthy promotions. Resources allocated to these activities, and opinions of the director relevant to agency involvement in health promotion.

All active healthy system agencies listed in the 1980. Directory of Health System Agencies (DHSH) were surveyed by a mailed questionnaire. Reponses were receive from 112 agencies (57%) and the respondents were found to be representative of the population.

The results revealed health systems agencies to be involved in health promotion. More than 90 percent of the responders listed some type of health promotion activity in their Healthy System Plans for the 1979-1980 planning year. Approximately half of the responders reported some community activity in health promotion. The majority of executive directors saw health systems agencies as being only moderately effective in controlling health care costs: considered healthy promotion as a viable means of controlling health care cost: and believed that modifications of individual life-styles had the greatest potential for improving health status.

The survey revealed that Healthy System Agencies did not restrict the wellness/health promotion activities to traditional health facilities, but were defining health broadly and working with a variety of agencies to develop services.

Disciplines

Community Health and Preventive Medicine | Health Services Administration | Public Health | Public Health Education and Promotion

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