What Is Public Health?

        This is brief summary of the received article. Health can be defined as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. More specifically, population health is associated with not only the definition of measuring health outcomes like physical and psychosocial functioning, complications resulting from disease and/or medical care, quality of life, etc. but the pattern of certain health determinants, such as medical care, genetics, individual behavior, as well as certain features of both the social that are culture, education, employment, income, etc. and physical environments are urban design, clean air and water, etc. According to the American Public Health Association, public health “promotes and protects the health of people and the communities where they live, learn, work and play.” This includes, but is not limited to, disease outbreak surveillance, prevention of injuries, and research as to the reasoning why some people are more susceptible to poor health outcomes than others health.

        The key word here is “prevention.” Therefore, in order to prevent problems from happening or recurring, public health professionals work tirelessly to promote healthcare equity, quality and accessibility. Some strategies used to accomplish this include the development and implementation of community-based educational programs, recommending and advocating for policies, administration of services, and conducting evidence-based research to limit health disparities. This is in contrast to clinical professionals, such as physicians and nurses, who focus primarily on tertiary care; that is, treating individuals after they become ill or injured. There are a number of distinctions that one can make to differentiate between public health and the clinical setting. For instance, physicians are licensed healthcare professionals who diagnose and treat individual patients when they present with a specific illness or injury.

        In fact, as the worldwide population grows at a rate of nearly 70 million each year, every public health crisis becomes all that much more threatening. With this in mind, a call for action is not only necessary, but also imperative. This includes increased federal, state and local funding for public health research; developing strategies for effective communication to make a compelling voice for public health efforts in the community; and implementing public health regulations, policies and laws that are not only culturally-sensitive, but are tailored to the populations to which they are intended to serve.

URL: http://scifed.com/scifed-journal-of-public-health/