"The Nation has lost sight of its public health goals and has allowed the system of public health to fall into 'disarray'," from The Future of Public Health. This startling book contains proposals for ensuring that public health service programs are efficient and effective enough to deal not only with the topics of today, but also with those of tomorrow. In addition, the authors make recommendations for core functions in public health assessment, policy development, and service assurances, and identify the level of government--federal, state, and local--at which these functions would best be handled.

Bioterrorism, drug-resistant disease, transmission of disease by global travel . . . there's no shortage of challenges facing America's public health officials. Men and women preparing to enter the field require state-of-the-art training to meet these increasing threats to the public health. But are the programs they rely on provide the high caliber professional training they require? Who Will Keep the Public Healthy? provides an overview of the past, present, and future of public health education, assessing its readiness to provide the training and education needed to prepare men and women to face 21st century challenges. Advocating an ecological approach to public health, the Institute of Medicine examines the role of public health schools and degree-granting programs, medical schools, nursing schools, and government agencies, as well as other institutions that foster public health education and leadership. Specific recommendations address the content of public health education, qualifications for faculty, availability of supervised practice, opportunities for cross-disciplinary research and education, cooperation with government agencies, and government funding for education. Eight areas of critical importance to public health education in the 21st century are examined in depth: informatics, genomics, communication, cultural competence, community-based participatory research, global health, policy and law, and public health ethics. The book also includes a discussion of the policy implications of its ecological framework.

The Romantic Era witnessed a series of conflicts concerning definitions of health and disease. In this book, Martin Wallen discusses those conflicts and the cultural values that drove them. The six chapters progress from the mainstream rejuvenation of the Socratic values by Wordsworth and Coleridge to the radical alternatives offered by the Scottish theorist, John Brown, and the speculative German philosopher, F. W. J. Schelling. Wallen shows how actual definitions of health and disease changed at the turn of the nineteenth century, and provides an analysis of the metaphorical uses to which romantic thinkers put these different definitions in their attempts to value or devalue competing concepts of individuality, poetic expression, and history. Key to the redefinition of these concepts was the use of the rhetoric of medicine to add value to those statements considered desirable and to undermine those targeted for elimination from public discourse. By juxtaposing the well-known critical works of Wordsworth and Coleridge with lesser-known works such as Schelling's Yearbooks of Medicine and Thomas Beddoes' medical treatises, Wallen illuminates the central role medicine played in redefining the human being's relationship to society and nature - part of the cultural revolution that began in the nineteenth century.

The public health landscape is one of the most rapidly growing and cutting-edge fields at the moment and, in the wake of the global COVID-19 pandemic, there has never been a more meaningful time to enter the field. This thoroughly updated and revised third edition of 101+ Careers in Public Health continues to act as a career guide both for students seeking a first job in the field of public health and for anyone seeking guidance on how to best navigate the next stages of an existing career. Discussing not only emerging career paths but also traditional and familiar job types in public health, this book offers comprehensive advice and practical tips. It includes a wide survey of career profiles, including careers closely involved with pandemic response, climate change, technology and data science, and social justice advocacy. This third edition continues to provide a clear introduction to the history of public health with detailed descriptions of the many educational pathways that lead to public health careers. The book explores more than 120 different jobs in public health, with complete job descriptions, educational requirements, and future outlooks in addition to public health profiles from working professionals in the field. Whether interested in positions in government, healthcare, non-governmental organizations, technology, research, academia, philanthropic organizations, global health, consulting, or other private sector companies, this exciting third edition of 101+ Careers in Public Health provides excellent career guidance and produces helpful self-reflection when deciding on a public health career path. Key Features: Provides an introduction to the important competencies, training, and requirements needed to secure job opportunities at different career stages Includes step-by-step advice on how to network, apply, and interview for the job that best matches your interests, complete with a sample resume and cover letter Presents 50 new interviews from early career, management, and leadership positions as well as job descriptions for 20 occupations new to this edition Expanded coverage on global health and related opportunities, in addition to jobs in data science and technology Offers career advice for entry-level candidates and also for anyone looking to change careers

New edition coming in February 2020. As one of the foundational texts in the Essential Public Health series, Essentials of Public Health is an excellent introduction to the field of public health. Written for senior-level undergraduates or graduate students in public health, health science, nursing, and other health professions, Essentials of Public Health gives special focus to public health careers and the workings of public health agencies. Combining the best elements of Dr. Turnock's other books: Public Health: What It Is and How It Works and Public Health: Career Choices That Make a Difference, Essentials of Public Health, Third Edition, uses clear, reader-friendly language and helpful learning tools such as chapter exercises and discussion questions, making it an ideal text to prepare your students for the profession of public health. New to the Third Edition: Comprehensive new coverage of topics such as: the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, strategic planning, accreditation of public health organizations and credentialing of public health workers Extensive information on state and local public health practice derived from national surveys conducted since 2012 Two separate chapters on Community Public Health Practice and Emergency Preparedness (formerly covered in one single chapter) New conceptual frameworks for the public health system, overall health system, and public health workforce An examination of an additional 16 different public health occupations—a total of 39 covered in all More than 60 new or revised charts and tables and a series of “outside-the-book thinking” exercises appears in each chapter. This book: Defines and describes the public health system Provides concepts and tools for measuring health in populations Characterizes the relationship of the public health system with medical care and other elements of the overall health system Identifies government’s unique contributions through federal, state, and local public health agencies Offers basic information on the size and composition of the public health workforce Addresses careers and jobs in public health administration, epidemiology, public health nursing, health education, and more.

The anthrax incidents following the 9/11 terrorist attacks put the spotlight on the nation's public health agencies, placing it under an unprecedented scrutiny that added new dimensions to the complex issues considered in this report. The Future of the Public's Health in the 21st Century reaffirms the vision of Healthy People 2010, and outlines a systems approach to assuring the nation's health in practice, research, and policy. This approach focuses on joining the unique resources and perspectives of diverse sectors and entities and challenges these groups to work in a concerted, strategic way to promote and protect the public's health. Focusing on diverse partnerships as the framework for public health, the book discusses: The need for a shift from an individual to a population-based approach in practice, research, policy, and community engagement. The status of the governmental public health infrastructure and what needs to be improved, including its interface with the health care delivery system. The roles nongovernment actors, such as academia, business, local communities and the media can play in creating a healthy nation. Providing an accessible analysis, this book will be important to public health policy-makers and practitioners, business and community leaders, health advocates, educators and journalists.

In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.