Improvements in Public Health

Between 1840 and 1900 living conditions in towns improved. How did the work of government, local councils and individuals bring this about? In this essay I will discuss the conditions in towns between 1840 and 1900 and the improvements in Public health since 1840. While doing this I will link reasons together to achieve my final conclusion. I will begin with an explanation of living conditions in towns and cities in the early 19th century. Living in the early 19th Century was very tough for most people. At least 80% were working class. Houses where small and over crowded allowing diseases to spread easily. The air was polluted, poor and environment unhealthy because the people did not know about the causes and consequences of pollution. For example, coal burning from houses and factories was polluting the environment, but it was the main source of fuel. The environment was not just damaged by coal burning and the resulting sulphur dioxide and carbon dioxide, it was also unbearable because of the terrible smell and insanitary living conditions. The smell was caused by the lack of sewerage system, public toilets (as only rich people could afford a toilet in the house), dirty water; unhygienic disposal of waste and the fact that cleaning methods were inadequate – no reliable products. The filth was particularly bad in the Soho district of London. In the late summer of 1854 there was a sudden outbreak of cholera. Dr John Snow quoted that it was â€Å"the most terrible outbreak of cholera which ever occurred in the kingdom. † Over the first 3 days of September 127 people died that lived on or near Broad Street. In some parts of the city the mortality rate was just 12. 8%. Nobody knew were it came from. The city stunk of human waste and the river Thames was a sewer. As the city grew the waste was increasing. When there was heavy rain the basements were flooded. This meant that people living in the basement and the rest of the house were in contact with raw sewerage and this would also attract disease and vermin and spread infections. Everyone wanted a clean fresh city where they could breathe clean air, drink and wash in clean water and live and keep their belongings in clean houses. I believe that people's ignorance to the effects of their actions and the fact that they had no alternatives had a big impact on the living conditions in the early 19th century. This is because many people were so poor and uneducated; they had no choice but to live in these conditions. This was particularly relevant in London and main industrialised towns and cities where people moved from the country because many were losing their jobs. This was because the invention of machinery on work and therefore forced people to evacuate to bigger cities with more work needed. In the country they may only have been able to get seasonal work in the fields and they dreamt of a better life in the city where there was more regular work available in the factories. They needed to live in the bigger towns to have the opportunity to earn money in factories and workhouses. As London was rapidly growing, the health conditions got worse. Streets were filled with rubbish and dead animals and never cleaned. Street cleaners only clean roads with people living there who could afford to pay their wages. The fact that there was little public services for example there was no national health services and you had to pay for the health services, there was no clean running water, poor structured houses full of people, filth and germs round every corner and the fact that the homeless children and even some adults, as seen in the cartoon bellow, where rolling around in the waste on the streets. The picture is a cartoon drawn at a time when the government believed that looking after the poor, the old and the sick was the job of individuals and their families. They also believed in individualism and self help believing that if the government did too much for people they would become weak and dependent. This was named laissez faire. This is French for do little or nothing. It was there duty to make laws and deal with wars, but not to ‘babysit' the community. At the end of the 19th century, the city life was improving little by little. New laws, such as the 1875 Artisan's Dwelling Act, meant that better housing was being built. It was an act of the parliament designed by Richard Cross, Home Secretary. The Act made the owners give their slums to the council so they could demolish the areas of slum housing to be redeveloped by commercial builders with low interest. The Artisans Dwelling Act of 1885 was considered one of most significant acts of the Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli's presidency. The improvements to public heath brought real benefits. By this time cities had facilities to meet all kinds of interests, from dance halls to chapels. People joined together in a wide range of clubs and societies. There were nearly 700,000 allotments by 1881. Allotment holders held competitions for flowers and vegetables. Enthusiasts, usually men, took time to trouble over breeding birds such as pigeons or canaries. Choirs were very popular, usually as part of church or chapel life. Many played in brass bands, often sponsored by a factory-owner. By the end of the century, cycling had become a popular hobby with both sexes. Thousands began to spend their Saturday watching sport. Various kinds of football had been popular for centuries. They were crude rough games, with few rules. Now people lived in clean houses and apartments. In Birmingham Joseph Chamberlain made calls for slum clearance, improved housing, municipalisation of public utilities and higher taxes for the rich. He was elected as mayor of Birmingham in 1876. The middle class of Birmingham adored chamberlain. They all voted for what he fought for. He soon became Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone's lieutenant in the House of Commons and later in 1882 was appointed president of the Board of Trade in Gladstone's second ministry. The Municipal Corporations Act of 1835 was an act of Parliament that rehabilitated local government. It split the country into districts. Each district was responsible for running local services such as housing and education. They had commissioners to be in charge of each local council. The royal commission had eighteen members, two members for each district. A new law was made so middle class people were aloud to participate in the local council. They had annual elections each year, were a third of the council members up for election. They also elected aldermen to be part of the council with a six year term. Towns were divided into smaller areas were they had a local person to represent them on the local council. As previously highlighted in the early 19th century overcrowding, poverty, dirty environment and insanitary housing lead to disease. In 1843 Edwin Chadwick argued that poverty was caused by disease and that by curing diseases poverty would be reduced. Joseph Bazelgette who designed the sewage system, made sure that the flow of foul water and underground rivers was diverted along new sewers and taken the sewage treatment works and then pumped into Tidal Thames where it would be carried out to sea rather than stay in the previous â€Å"open sewer† of the Thames. His design was so good it has stood up to increases in volume of raw sewage. In 1848 the cholera epidemic spurred the government into action through public health measures followed by health measures for individuals. Many people thought cholera was air bourn but John Snow thought it entered the body through the mouth. He investigated a cholera outbreak in 1854 and carefully plotted all cases on a map of Soho where the outbreak occurred. He managed to identify a water pump as the source of the disease. When he removed the handle the causes of cholera immediately declined. It took another six years before this theory was more widely accepted. John Snow also made development in anaesthetics and made them safer and more effective for use on humans. Public health measures included: – The public health of 1888 gave all towns the right to employ a public health officer. – In 1853 public vaccinations against small pox were made compulsory. – In 1854 influence by Florence Nightingale and other campaigners, hospital hygiene was improved and hospitals became much cleaner places, helping to prevent the spread of disease. The 1875 Public Health Act required the clearance off slums, the installation of sewers, clean water supplies and better environment to live in. This was very successful as public health improved and local councils competed to be the best public health provider. This lead to the individual health measures introduced in the early 20th century e. g. free school meals in 1906, medical examinations for all children in 1907. Old age pensions introduced and in 1911 National Insurance (free medical treatment for workers. During the 19th century knowledge about the ways bodies work increased. William Beaumont (1822) studied the digestive system. Theodor Schwann (1858) realised that animal tissues were made of cells. Henry Gray (1858) wrote Grays anatomy and people started to have a broad knowledge of how their bodies worked. Louis Pasteur discussed that germs can cause disease rather that's the previous theory of spontaneous generation where diseases cause germs. This also led to the pasteur isation of milk. Robert Kock studied bacteria further and identified bacteria specific to the diseases septicaemia, TB and cholera and others discovered the bacteria that caused typhoid pneumonia and the plague. Patrick Manson 1879 discovered that diseases could be spread by vectors such as flies. Charles Chamberlain (1884) discovered viruses. Therefore understanding of disease was improving rapidly and there were some inventions that helped the treatment of disease also, e. g. multi lens microscope (Lister 1826) kymograph to measure pulse (1847 Ludwig) and x-rays (Roentgen 1895). At the beginning of the 19th century doctors would only provide comfort but by the end they could treat diseases and heal some patients with surgery. I believe the living conditions between 1840 and 1900 did improve. The government and local councils brought this about by clearing slums and areas of bad, dirty housing, supporting improvements in biology knowledge cleaning up sewers and improving local government, encouraging people to help themselves and no longer accepting poverty as something that can not be dealt with.

Peer response Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 7

Peer response - Assignment Example Further, one also agrees that there is no such thing as a perfect study. This is the reason why limitations should be noted to take into consideration those aspects that could be incorporated in future research. Researchers should have the hindsight to anticipate that the studies undertaken are made possible with utmost regard for objectivity to address the questions at hand. Yet, in no case would the conclusions be finite and further studies could be undertaken to improve on the results or verify whether the outcome would be consistent despite addressing the limitations which were previously noted. The initial reaction to your post is the widely encompassing scope of your proposed topic on remedial education. The research questions, though highly interesting, should be justified in terms of the new learning on the subject matter. The suggestion I could propose is to streamline your topic from a particular perspective: would your research focus on remedial education from the point of view of students taking remedial classes? Or would your research thrust emphasize the factors that impact the success (or failure) of remedial education? Another suggestion is to explore the relationship between students who took remedial classes to their ability to gain future employment. The point is to decide which point of view you would like to focus on and to streamline the variables to be used in the proposed

Scheduling Across the Supply Chain Executive Summary Essay

Scheduling Across the Supply Chain Executive Summary - Essay Example Subassembly of the lawnmower occurs within the traditional manufacturing line of the company, but the solar charges follow a different manufacturing process. This patented technology was developed by the R&D department. The company purchased a small building whose only purpose was to produce the solar chargers. The executive staff wanted to maintain control of the trade secrets associated with the solar charger production. The weekly production of solar chargers is delivered to corporate headquarters. For the first six months the forecasted production of the lawnmowers is 1000 units per month. The monthly production of green lawnmower is going to follow a 3:1 production ratio. For every three electric power lawnmower produced one solar powered mower will be manufactured. The green lawnmower project underway at John Deere must consider the effects of equipment availability. The solar powered production line depends on the production capabilities of the solar battery line which is independent of the production of the mower. The equipment to produce the solar panels used in the chargers has a short life span and must be replaced on a quarterly basis. There is only one supplier of the specialized equipment. If the replacement equipment is not ready on time bottlenecks could occur. A bottleneck occurs when a low capacity part of a system creates a constraint that reduces the capacity of the whole system (Heizer & Render, 1996). The company is also having problems training personnel to work at the solar charger production facility. The time to train employees to obtain the specialized skills needed to produce these items was miscalculated. The learning curve is much slower than anticipated. The learning curve stipulates that as employees repeat a particul ar process they gain skill and efficiency and production time improvements are achieved (Chase & Jacobs & Aquilano). It is taking eight to ten weeks

Gentiva Health Services assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Gentiva Health Services assignment - Essay Example The adoption of differential costing would greatly help the company. Differential costing helps evaluate the difference in total costs and expected revenue. This information is necessary in choosing where to invest or not to invest. In addition, it will help evaluate the incremental benefits resulting from an acquisition or a disposition. In a situation when the company requires closing down a new firm, the company would be able to weigh the detrimental costs likely to occur as a result of the closure. Gentiva is on the verge of making several decisions to remain relevant and stable in the current economic demands. Since differential costs involve the assessment of costs and revenues arising as a result of taking a given alternative, the company needs to employ the method to reach the best decisions. In turn, the company will be able to cope with the proposed law to cut health services and hospice care.The effects of the health care reform on the providers of health services are clea rly evident. The reform requires that costs of health services be reduced by at least 3.5% every year.   This implies reduced returns for services offered by Medicare companies. Due to the health services reform, Gentiva is on the move to diversify its operations. The company aims at capitalizing on the provision of Medicare services to the robust ageing American population. Chances are high that there will be several incidences of disease with the ageing population. Other likely effects include employment lay-offs.

Debt Consolidation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Debt Consolidation - Essay Example An agreement on collateral against the loan gives a lower interest rate for the loan, as the risk factor decreases. Naturally, if there's no collateral against the loan, lenders don't have any form of security for their money and they resort to charging a higher interest rate. So if the true purpose of debt consolidation must be achieved, it is advisable to keep an asset as collateral so the lenders can make a forced sale on non-payment of the loan and so that the borrower can receive the low interest rate he's looking for. This method has been proven successful when dealing with credit card debt, as credit cards often carry a much larger interest rate than even unsecured loans. In an interview, Kerri Cole talked about her practical experience in dealing with her debt problem. She went to Credit Consolidation Services and got her interest payments reduced on all 9 credit cards she owned; one of the card's interest rate fell from 27% to 9%. For a small monthly fee, she is saving over $600 a month since she started debt consolidation which makes a rough figure of $7200 saved each year. Though some companies tend to take advantage of these situations and indulge in predatory lending, the particular company Kerri talks about has been refreshingly fair and accommodating to her problem. Predatory lending is a term used for lenders who use deceptive methods to convince borrowers to agree to harsh and unfair loan terms, or the systematic violation of the terms by the lenders in such a way that it is very hard for the borrower to defend against it ('Predatory lending,' par.2). In recent reports, media has raised concerns over debt consolidation. They have pointed out that a large majority looks to reduce their interest rate by converting their unsecured loans into a secured loan. The problem arises at their choice of asset to secure the loan against. Most people tend to secure their loans against their home ('Debt consolidation,' par.13) which is a dangerous practice; putting at risk such a valuable asset would certainly not be the most advisable thing to do. The monthly payment does get lower, but the actual amount repaid over the years is often significantly greater in proportion due to the long period of loan. What people argue is that debt consolidation mostly cures the symptoms of the problem and doesn't hit at the root cause of the disease. To owe someone money is always very stressful. The stress is compounded when you owe money to not one, but quite a few lenders. Debt consolidation can provide means to develop a workable budget, and it would greatly reduce the stress level by bringing the number of lenders down to one. This would also be beneficial in the sense that one is less likely to forget a due payment of a single lender than attending to a large number of lenders, each with their own separate terms. Often it happens that because of a non-payment, you get further fines and charges on late payment; a debt of $500 could rise to $700 just because of an imposed fine. Debt consolidation will lessen that amount back to the principle amount (Selman, par.3). So, through debt consolidation we are looking at numerous advantages like no fines or monetary charges, reduced number of lenders, a lower interest rate and no warning calls. Also with your credit rating improving because of debt consolidation, if you are looking f or a new

Experience economy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Experience economy - Essay Example Commerce includes all those activities, which are connected with trade and auxiliaries to trade such as transport, warehousing, insurance and banking and finance. Trade involves buying and selling of goods and its purpose is to bridge the gap between persons, i.e. the producers and the consumers can concentrate on their own occupations and at the same time buy goods to satisfy their consumption needs. The farmers can both enjoy each other's products with the help of traders. For example there are different types of cotton; jute, hides and skins are supplies to the producers of cotton textiles, gunny bags and shoes respectively. At the same time manufactured goods, which have been produced with the raw materials, are supplied to the consumers. Producers buy raw materials, machinery and equipment as well as stores and spare parts for machinery fro trading agencies and consumers buy practically all articles required for their daily use from traders. Goods are produced on a large scale in anticipation of demand. The markets for products are now spread over the length and breadth of the country and even extended to countries across the international borders. Hence direct sale of goods by the producers to the consumers is not possible. Without the help of traders and merchants engaged in trade it would be impossible for the system of large-scale production to continue. The trader involved in the actual operation of purchasing goods from producers and selling them to consumers. Traders and consumers are interdependent. Importance of trade Trade is of great significance for production as well as consumption of goods. It is through trade that goods produced at particular places are equitably distributed among users. With the help of trade goods are made available to consumers at the time of their need. It removes the hindrance of persons by bringing together producers and consumers who are widely scattered. Advantages of trade Advantages of trade are outlined below: It enables the producers to concentrate on their production activities; otherwise they would have to go in search of consumers for goods they produce. Trade makes goods available to consumers who can concentrate on their own occupations It results in specialization and large-scale production as the markets are now spread over wide territories. Sale of goods from one country and purchase of goods form other countries. It provides avenues of employment to various persons. It increases the standard of living of people as they can avail of goods of various kinds produces by different producers. Distinction between Home trade and foreign trade a. Home trade is concerned with trade between people of the same country while foreign trade is concerned with trade between people of two different countries. b. In home trade the buyer has to pay for the goods in home currency while in foreign trade buyer ha to make payment in foreign currency. c. Payment in home trade is simpler and less time consuming while in foreign trade, payment is not a simple process and hence is more time consuming. d. Home trade is not subject to restrictions, which exist in case of foreign trade such as tariffs, quotas, etc. e. Transport costs are relatively much less in home trade than in foreign trade. Development in different sectors like Information Technology, Steel industry, etc., has resulted a sharp rise in the usage of harmful substances.

Change for the better Essay Example for Free

Change for the better Essay Describe a situation in which critical and creative thought could have been used for a better outcome. Describe why it is important to think critically and creatively in similar situations. A situation that critical and creative thought could have been used for a better outcome is when buyers were making choices about buying real estate. There was a time back in 2006 thru 2007 that the real estate market was showing significant weakness where previously to that year it was thriving, but buyers were not thinking critically and creatively. Instead investors were being avaricious and they let their greedy ways of thinking make decisions for them. To make things poorer, lenders were very hostile in their lending procedures while nobody in the government was watching. Investors continue to buy properties at high prices. They were even paying over the listed prices for certain properties. Then there went it was ruined, and investors were trapped with nearly valueless properties. This is why and how thousands of properties started going into foreclosure. This was a hard lesson to learn but today the lending rules have changed thanks to a revamp of the lending practices. By thinking critically and creatively the government has constricted an improved unsupervised system. Define free will, truth, knowledge, and opinion. Explain how we use them to form thoughts. The moderate definition of free will is when people have choices when it comes to decisions like whether to attend an event or finish an assignment. Another example is getting up to go to work, although it may look uncontrollable, it really is a choice you make every day. For this reason, it is ironic that so much confusion exists about truth (Ruggiero, p. 27, 2009). Even otherwise intelligent people can be heard saying things such as â€Å"Everyone makes his or her own truth,† â€Å"One person’s truth is another person’s error,† â€Å"Truth is relative,† and â€Å"Truth is constantly changing† (Ruggiero, p. 27, 2009).All of these ideas undermine thinking (Ruggiero, p. 27, 2009). Knowledge can change as new information is becomes accessible. Ideas do not constitute knowledge unless they correspond to reality (Ruggiero, p.28, 2009). â€Å"Opinions are i ntensely personal, so it is understandable that people have strong feelings about theirs (Ruggiero, p. 34, 2009). But many people carry those feelings beyond the boundaries of good sense (Ruggiero, p. 34, 2009). They take the valid idea â€Å"Everyone has a right to his or her opinion† to the ridiculous extreme of â€Å"Everyone’s opinion is right† (Ruggiero, p. 34, 2009).