Req 7a2 — Investigate an Agency Website
7a2.
Familiarize yourself with your city, county, state, or a federal health agency’s website.
A good health agency website is a public health tool. It tells people what risks are current, what services are available, where to get help, and how to prepare. When you explore the site, do not skim randomly. Hunt for evidence of what the agency actually does.
What to explore
Look for pages related to disease reporting, vaccinations, environmental health, restaurant inspections, emergency preparedness, data dashboards, seasonal alerts, and public advisories. Those sections show what the agency considers important and how it communicates with the public.
Questions to answer from the website
- What are the agency’s main divisions or responsibilities?
- What current issues or alerts are highlighted?
- What data or reports does it share with the public?
- What services can residents use directly?
- How does it guide people during emergencies or outbreaks?
A smart way to study the website
Collect examples you can bring into Requirement 7b
- Save three useful pages: alerts, services, or dashboards
- Write down one statistic or report title the agency publishes
- Find one outbreak-related page and one disaster-related page
- Notice how the site serves different audiences such as parents, schools, travelers, or healthcare workers
Whether you visit in person or study a website, the next requirement asks the bigger question: how does an agency respond to death, disease, outbreaks, and disasters in a real community?