Lesson 1: Health Professionals

Learning Targets
● Describe what a health professional is;
● Identify the different types of health professionals; and
● Know the importance of health professionals.
Learn about It!
 Whenever we can’t handle our health situation matters, we also seek help from someone whom we know can
solve the problem. Health professionals are people who are capable of solving health matters. They are
responsible for keeping one’s health on the right track. They have studied and practiced procedures that would
fit a specific health matter.
 Every health professionals have their specialization, a specialization that would tell how effective they are to
measure, evaluate and treat a particular health problem. Here are examples of health professionals:
Medical doctors - these include general and specialist practitioners. These doctors have studied and undergone
different practices to be professional and get a license. They are
capable of giving medications on different types of illnesses. They
are commonly found in hospitals and clinics. They also have the
choice of working on a private or public institution.
Nursing Professionals - nurses are also the same as the doctors who
studied and practiced services under their profession. They usually
assist the doctors in doing medical treatments to other people. They are trained not only to take care of sick
people but also to check the proper medications given to every individual.
Midwifery Professionals - they are responsible for handling pregnant women including
childbirth and after. They are also adequately trained to be equipped in this
service. Some of them give advice related to sexual and reproductive health
to have a healthy period of pregnancy.
Dentists - they are responsible for oral health care. These people are
specialized and practiced to treat medical concerns of teeth and gums. They can do different procedures in
addressing a person’s oral concern like extraction, cleaning, and filling.
Pharmacists - we usually associate with pharmacists when we are purchasing
medications. They specialized the proper medicines given to every illness. They
cannot just sell drugs to anybody, sometimes they have to ask for prescriptions
from the doctor to grant the request of the consumer.

Check Your Understanding

A. Write true if the statement is correct, otherwise, write false.
1. Health professionals are people who are licensed and have studied medical matters.
2. Doctors can only be found on big and private hospitals.
3. Dentists are responsible for oral health.
4. Pharmacists do not need to study medical matters to work on a drug store.
5. Pregnant women can ask sexual and reproductive advice from a midwife.

B. Put a check (✓) if the statement is telling a fact about health professionals then put a cross (x) if it does not.
1. Health professionals study and learn through their own experiences.
2. Different kinds of physicians handle different types of medical concerns/illnesses.
3. Nurses are only allowed to assist doctors.
4. Licensed pharmacists can sell medicines on their own.
5. Pharmacists also worked with doctors to correctly assign medications to patients.

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 Lesson 2: Health Facilities

Learning Targets
● Describe what a health facility is;
● Identify the different type of health facilities; and
● Know the importance of health facilities.

Learn about It!

We have learned the different professionals in the previous lesson. Each professional are designated to
particular facilities to perform their responsibilities on medical matters.

Health Facilities are areas or places where health professionals perform medical procedures. Private companies
own some facilities while the government operates some. Either a small or a big facility must have passed
requirements to be acknowledged.

Here are the different types of health facilities:

 Hospital - it is a major health facility as people go here for whatever medical matters that are concerned with.
Different tests are done here. Nurses and physicians perform their medical practices here for diagnostic,
treatment and even prevention. There are also various facilities inside the hospital like Emergency Unit,
Laboratory, X-ray room, Operating room, Intensive Care Unit and more. It would be best that hospitals would
have complete facilities to keep patients from going from one hospital to another.

 Clinics - these are small medical institutions where patients usually ask for consultations, first aid, dental
procedures, and immunizations. Clinics are handled by private companies with health professionals as well.

 Health Centers - these centers are commonly owned by the government. They are usually found near the
barangay of every city. They typically give free services to people who cannot afford to avail medical treatments
from private sectors. Even though services are free, they still offer high-quality services.

 Pharmacies or Drug Stores - people purchase the medications that they need on pharmacies. This facility offers
high-quality and prescribed medicines by health professionals. They also submit requirements to become
accredited to sell drugs. Some pharmacies can be found inside a hospital, and some are owned outside by
private sectors.

 Medical Laboratory and Research - this facility examine specimens delivered by small clinics who don’t have a
laboratory. Examinations are done by health professionals as well.

Health facilities are handled and ran by people who have medical studies and background. For a facility to
operate, they submit requirements and are being assessed by the authorities to be accredited.

Check Your Understanding

A. Write true if the statement is correct, if not, write false.
1. Health facilities are places where medical procedures are done.
2. Each facility submitted requirements to be accredited.
3. Hospitals are owned by private companies only.
4. Pharmacies are accredited facility that sell medicines.
5. Smalls clinics deliver their specimens to hospitals for examination.
B. Put a check (✓) if the statement is telling a fact about health facilities then put a cross (x) if it does not.
1. Health facilities are open for people who can afford to pay only.
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2. Health facilities are owned either by a private sector or government.
3. There are designated health centers on every barangays.
4. Some medicines are sold with the prescription of the doctor.
5. Facilities can operate even without a license.

Lesson 3: Health Care Plans

Learning Targets
● Describe what health care plan is;
● Identify the different type of health care plans; and
● Know the importance of health care plans.

Learn about It!

Health professionals and services that handle medical concerns sometimes cost an amount that we don’t expect
or beyond the money that we have.

Health Care Plans are plans that help in providing financial support in medical matters. People usually buy
insurance to pay for your hospital expenses if you get sick or injured. There are specific terms and agreement to
be followed for it to be processed when needed.

Here are the different types of health care plans.

 PhilHealth - this is a government agency here in the

Philippines that helps employees both on private and
government companies. A monthly contribution from the
employer and a deduction from the employee’s salary go
to the employee's contribution to PhilHealth which can be
used during hospitalization.

 Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) - an individual has the opportunity to be enrolled by their company or
to enroll himself/herself to this plan as it helps in securing hospitalizations and other health expenses.
 Health Insurance Plan - this is a kind of insurance where people can decide on the amount to be used regarding
medical expenses. Unlike other health care plans, this plan would not release any financial support unless the
person is fully paid or the plan declares to, which would base according to the agreement of both parties.

Everyone is highly encouraged to avail health care plans as

they can be used on emergency purposes. This would make
every individual to avoid thinking of financial risks when
visiting a hospital or getting health services from private
sectors.

Check Your Understanding

A. Write true if the statement is correct, if not, write false.
1. Only the employees working on government offices are allowed to avail insurance from PhilHealth.
2. HMO can also be used by people who are only going for a checkup.
3. Both the organization and the company need to do their duties in providing you a health care plan.
4. Health care plans are used only when a person is needed to be operated.
5. Health Insurance Plan can be used only when the person is fully paid.

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B. Put a check (✓) if the statement is describing health care plans, then put a cross (x) if it does not.
1. Paying half of the medical expenses during your hospitalization.
2. Serving and treating patients even without a license.
3. Registered and licensed organizations approved by the authorities.
4. A company contributing to their employees’ health care plans.
5. Health insurance can also be used to other expenses aside from medical concerns.

Lesson 1: Quackery
Learning Targets
● explain the nature and dangers of quackery; and
● report fraudulent health services.
Learn about It!
 Quack! Quack! Quack came from the term quacksalver, described as the wandering peddlers during
the Renaissance era. They are the people who claim to cure any diseases using their ointment. But
later on, it was found out that the ointment was made of mercury, a heavy metal harmful to the body.
This coined the term quack, which became the symbol of evil medical practice.
 Health is the primary concern of everyone. Medical practices and treatments have advanced as time
progressed. Alongside, diseases also leaped to increase resistance against current medical treatments
available.
 There are still no cures for chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes, hypertension, and leukemia.
Some people are suffering from these diseases that hope for a miracle to happen. However, some
people took advantage of their situation. They fool the people into giving false hope for their cure.
 As discussed previously, they are called quack and what they do is deception. The quack is an individual
with little or no professional qualifications to practice medicine. He purposely uses meaningless
medical jargons to promote their fraudulent products and services. A quack employs scare tactics and
quick fix propaganda to sell.
 Health quackery can be characterized as a vast business fastly growing due to the support of people
diagnosed with incurable diseases. Quackery has three forms - medical, device, and nutritional. Each
differs in the purpose of the products and services offered.
Forms of Quackery
1. Medical Quackery: The promotion of cures, treatments, and remedies of numerous illnesses that are
drugless or bloodless. These are inappropriately labeled products, not citing the specific substances present.
Most of the time, the packages have no approval seals from certified government agencies that check product
quality.
2. Device Quackery: These form of quackery refers to inexplicable instruments that claim to cure any
medical condition or help in quick fixes. For example, an armband being promoted to normalize the blood
sugar level of a patient by just wearing it in his arm.
3. Nutritional Quackery: It includes the food fads, and nutritional practices that claim to be organic and
toxin-free as a variety of plants are contained in the item. It can be an herbal supplement, a dietary fluid, or
traditional health practice.
Warning signs a product or service is quackery.
● Claims that it can cure any chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and the like.

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● Gives vague statements without much detail on how it works.
● Suspicious testimonials ascertain only for the claim.
● Diagnose your health condition without proper laboratory procedural examinations.
● A dietary product or plan that works its magic in just seven days or shorter period to lose weight.
● Recruits their victims to sell the products as well.
● Focuses on the monetary gain from the product.