Public Health Module - Coursework Example

PUBLIC HEALTH MODULE By Location Public health module I. Introduction Experience during the process of working as a team was one of a kind. One of the things that were outstanding during the process is the fact that the contribution of each member of the group was very important to the accomplishment of the purpose. Every member was able to contribute in a way that made the process much. Not all the group members were gifted in the same way. On the same note, not all the members had the same skills and ability. Some members showed that they were good at data collection. Others were exceptionally good in analysis of the data and coming up with relevant information that was useful in the compilation of this report. Others also proved to be gifted in the compilation of information (Bush, 2012).When all these skills and abilities were brought together, the group members were able to complement each other leading to the creation of this report. II. Review of experience During the task one thing that came clear is the fact that there is always allot of interdependence in group work. However, due to the high levels of interdependence, there is always a need for high levels of commitment by every member of the team. Not everyone was expected to do everything. Therefore, whatever responsibility was allocated to any of the group members, they had to take it very seriously. This is the only way through which team work can be better than individual work (Tolley, Ulin and Robinson 2013). In this case every member was given a responsibility that they were okay with. By the end of the allocated period everyone was to present what they have been doing to the rest of the group. The presentations proved to be important because they enabled the other members of the group to understand what was done, the reason why it was done, and the results. It also gave the other members a change to add some more information or question some parts of the procedures. One thing that was clearly evident during the process is that there were allot of instances when the group members had to share ideas. Things did not end at the sharing of ideas, but also involved debating of ideas. Such debates appeared to increase the members’ understanding of the issue under study. Sometime personal researches might be limited by misunderstandings and single sided information. However, as a result of debating ideas, clarifications and corrections were made. Every member had the freedom of seeking clarification on anything that they thought that they had not understood. Furthermore, they were also able to bring more details if in any case they felt that some details had been left out. Nevertheless, all the members, including those who had presented the information would end up having more clear information. Sometimes it takes more than one person to have different perspectives of situations and data(Beaglehole and Bonita, 2004). At the end of the day, every member of the group had a clearer understanding of the issue at hand as compared to the level of understanding that they had before the discussion. Individual researches are usually very lengthy. There are a number of reasons as to why they are always this lengthy. With teamwork things are made easier because there is some information that the group members already had. If the information is brought together there is allot of time that is saved. With saved time, teamwork is able to achieve what individual work would not have performed over the same period of time. Some of the weaknesses that the members had did not affect the process much because of the involvement of individuals with different capabilities(Douglas, J. et al., 2010). In cases where one task turned out to be challenging for one of the members, other members who were well skilled in the area would take over and make the whole process easier. In the long run none of the weaknesses of the team members were reflected in the final report. This is because most of the things that would have lacked were the project carried out by a single individual were covered up by the other members. Throughout the task it was clearly evident that leadership is of high importance to teamwork if this was to be effective. As a group that had a purpose, the leader played the role of planning, organizing, and coordinating. The leader was responsible in making plans with regard to any activity that the group would be involved in. Plans had to be made with regard to the manner in which data would be collected and the frequency of the group’s meeting (Douglas, J. et al., 2010). Every member of the group was given individual responsibility. It was the responsibility of the leader to make sure that every member is accorded a responsibility that they were well conversant with and capable of doing. The leaders also made sure that everything was coordinated in a way that every activity fell into place with none delaying the other. III. Analysis of the challenges Despite the fact that teamwork usually makes work easier, it never comes without challenges. In this case difference in levels of commitment was one of the challenges that were faced by the team. Not all the members showed utmost commitment to helping the group achieve its purpose. This was a problem because at some point it even affected the performance of the group members who had utmost commitment. Some of the members started feeling like their commitment was being taken advantage of. It took the intervention of the leader for such problems to be taken care of. Such problems might be costly to the success of the group if in any case they do not have a leader with good leadership qualities. Such a situation might lead to performance hibernation whereby every member will be waiting for the other member to act. As time goes by, such a group will realize that they will not be able to recover the time that went to waste during the process. At the end of the day the process would have taken longer than it actually was supposed to take. Another challenge that emerged was coming to an agreement during the discussion of the collected information and ideas. For some members, it took them a really long time to grasp the concepts that were being explained during the discussion. This is a problem that the time that is used in making some of the members gain understanding of concepts would have been used for other activities. For a single person undertaking such a task it would be faster than when every member of the group is expected to understand everything that is entailed. The only thing that will be compromised is the quality of the results. It was also hard working as a group because of some of the members would like to get credit for their contribution. At such moments the others did not feel that it was a good idea because they also had their own contribution. There was also a challenge when it came to deciding which of the group members would be best suited for the leadership role. Most people will always choose group leaders for the wrong reason instead of their leadership qualities. In this case the situation was made harder because most of the members were not willing to take responsibility. Some of them were in a situation where even if they took the responsibility they would not be able to do it as effectively as expected. However, the members were able to get one of them who took them through the task taking every responsibility that a leader should. There are allot of things that were learned during this task that will be highly beneficial in the future. For instance, this task helped in learning that health setting type is something of high importance in public health (Peckham and Alison, 2010). It can be said that in this case learning on how to choose the appropriate approach for healthy settings was a major addition. This is because this is a skill that will be helpful in public health profession. When faced with a situation where there will be needed to use one of the approaches for healthy settings, someone will not have to go through a hard time in making such decision. Having done this practically, someone will often find themselves knowing exactly which approach to choose given the situation in which they will be at that particular time. This is an indication that the task was helpful in preparing the members for the public health profession. During the task determination of particular public health interventions was of high importance. However, for anyone to be able to do so they need to be well equipped intellectually. By the time the group was starting the task, none of the member would have claimed to have been highly skilled in determination of appropriate health interventions (Boylan, 2005). This skill will obviously prove to be very vital in their careers. Every public health situation is usually suited for specific health intervention. Use of the wrong intervention might mean that all the efforts might be in vain. This is the reason as to why these skills are of high importance in this case. Given the fact that human health and life is always at stake in such incidents, it can be assumed that having such skills will help in enhancing the value of life the localities where the group members will be working professionally. From the task members were able to gain experience and skills in compiling and deducing meaningful information from survey data. For instance, they were able to see the data from the survey on the fears of the town’s residents in deducing meaningful information on the possible health threats that might face the town. Such skills were not only important in the completion of this task, but will also be important in the public health profession. In public health, data is always used in coming up with a solution or prediction of possible health threats so that they can be prevented (Douglas, J. et al., 2010). However, raw data is always not sufficient in making such decisions. The need for using raw data in prediction or conversion to meaningful information is what makes the difference between being able to come up with suitable solution and coming up with inappropriate solutions. Therefore, this is a skill that is of high importance to any public health professional. This task did not help the participants in developing data compilation skills. They were also able to learn several data collection skills that will prove to be of high importance in their careers. It is always important to know the important data to collect in different cases. Knowing what data is needed, usually help in knowing the data collection method that will be used (Friis and Sellers, 2014). Given the importance of appropriate data, knowing how to collect the right data is of high importance in public health. The data collection methods such as surveys, observation, and literature review were highly used in this case. These data collection methods enabled the participants to collect data that was important in deduction of the main possible problems of the town, and the ways through their occurrences would be avoided (Jones and Douglas, 2011). This makes the public health profession much easier. The most important thing that was learned during this task is working as a team. For most people it is usually very hard to work with others. However, with this experience it appeared that working with others is a good idea and can save time. Apart from saving time, teamwork also enhances someone’s problem solving skills (Padgett, 2012). This is because working with other people gives one a chance to deal with different perspectives. During the process, it could be observed that the members had different approaches to different issues. Differences were also observed in terms of opinions, idea, and knowledge (Brownson, 2011). It was important for the group members to embrace their differences. If they did not embrace their differences, then they might not have had the success that they did. Therefore, it can be concluded that the participants were able to develop collective problem solving skills. Bibliography Beaglehole, R.and Bonita, R.(2004), ‘Public health at the crossroads achievements and prospects’, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Boylan, M.(2005), ‘Public health policy and ethics’,Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht. Brownson, R. C.(2011), ‘Evidence-based public health’, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Bush, H. M.(2012), ‘Biostatistics: an applied introduction for the public health practitioner’,DelmarCengage Learning, Clifton Park, NY. Douglas, J. et al.(2010), A Reader in Promoting Public Health (2 nd Ed).Milton Keynes.Open University. Friis, R. H.and Sellers, T. A.(2014),‘Epidemiology for public health practice’,Jones& Bartlett Learning, Burlington, Mass. Jones, l., andDouglas, J.(2011), ‘Public Health: Building Innovative Practice’, Milton Keynes. Open University. Padgett, D.(2012), ‘Qualitative and mixed methods in public health’, SAGE, Thousand Oaks, Calif. Peckham, S., and Alison H.(2010), ‘Public health ethics and practice’, Policy, Bristol, UK. Tolley, E. E., Ulin, P. R.,& Robinson, E. T.(2013), ‘Qualitative methods in public health a field guide for applied research.San Francisco’, Calif, Jossey-Bass. Read More