Providing Leadership During A Public Health Emergency

During the last quarter century more than 3.4 million lives have been lost due to disasters and large scale crises, which appear to be increasing in frequency. It is no surprise that with increasing world population and population density that disasters are occurring more regularly. When a disaster strikes, millions of people are affected and all basic societal functions may be altered. Crisis leadership and management is becoming an important component of managing a business or organisation. Crises may arise in many shapes or forms, including a terrorist attack, industrial accidents, product recall or natural calamity. As crises continue to rise and increase in intensity, organisations need to prepare and have effective management plans†¦show more content†¦Novick et. Al argues that public health involves a structured approach to improve the health of the population (Healey, Lesneski, 2011). These definitions indicate that public health is important to solve many of the cu rrent health care problems and to show there is dedication to improvement of the health in a given population. There are multiple challenges to providing leadership during public health emergencies and crises, with reoccurring criticisms that always appear to relate back to poor communication and time management. Leadership is required to build in collaboration with sectors of the community and it is essential to advocate effectively for policies that meet public health needs (Brown, 1997). This includes the needs to build coalitions, become allies with the media and persuade policymakers to support health-promoting public policies. Crises are sudden, extreme changes in condition that cause large amounts of confusion and emotion (Arjen, 2003). The public looks for guidance from strong reliable leaders and expect to be reassured, directed and listened to. There has been debate over whether a good leader is born or made and what traits are required to be a good Crisis Leader. The foll owing paragraph