Public health
The approach to medicine that is concerned with the health of the community as a
whole. Public health is community health. It has been said that: "Health care is vital to
all of us some of the time, but public health is vital to all of us all of the time." The
mission of public health is to "fulfill society's interest in assuring conditions in which
people can be healthy." The three core public health functions are:
- The assessment and monitoring of the health of communities and populations at risk
to identify health problems and priorities;
- The formulation of public policies designed to solve identified local and national
health problems and priorities;
- To assure that all populations have access to appropriate and cost-effective care,
including health promotion and disease prevention services, and evaluation of the
effectiveness of that care.
There are many distinctions that can be made between public health and the clinical
health professions. While public health is comprised of many professional disciplines
such as medicine, dentistry, nursing, optometry, nutrition, social work, environmental
sciences, health education, health services administration, and the behavioral
sciences, its activities focus on entire populations rather than on individual patients.
Public health professionals monitor and diagnose the health concerns of entire
communities and promote healthy practices and behaviors to assure our populations
stay healthy.