What is public health?
A classic definition of public health originally put forward by C-E.A. Winslow in 1920 and which is still cited is:
"The science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting physical health and efficiency through organized community efforts for the sanitation of the environment, the control of community infections, the education of the individual in personal hygiene, the organization of medical and nursing service for early diagnosis and preventive treatment of disease, and the development of the social machinery which will ensure to every individual in the community a standard of living adequate for maintenance of health" (Winslow, 1920).
This definition was later adapted by D. Acheson who broadened it giving as much weight to the importance of lifestyle as to environmental hygiene in the preservation an promotion of health:
“the art and science of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts of society” (Acheson, 1988)
Sources:
Acheson, D. (1988) Public health in England : the report of the Committee of Inquiry into the Future Development of the Public Health Function. London: HMSO.
Winslow, C-E.A. (1920) The untilled fields of public health. Science, 51 (1306) 23-33.
Who created this guide?
Resources in this guide were identified in collaboration with the Public Health Intelligence Team, Lincolnshire County Council.
Context
The Good Practice in Public Health Framework from the Faculty of Public Health states:
You should ensure that any actions you take or recommendations that you make in the course of your work are based on a clear analysis of the available intelligence and evidence.
Source: Good Practice in Public Health Framework, Faculty of Public Health
A Guide to Evidence Informed Public Health
This resource from the Canadian National Collaborating Centre for Methods and Tools at McMaster University explores how to apply the principles of evidence based practice to public health.
Sources of Public Health Evidence
The King's Fund is an independent charitable organisation working to improve health and care in England. Their public health resource details their reports, projects and commentaries on services and policies to promote wellbeing and protect the nation's health.
Health Matters: Public Health Issues
Health matters is a topic-based resource from Public Health England which collates relevant data and best evidence of what works in addressing major public health problems.
Public Health England Library & Knowledge Service - Grey Literature Resource
Grey literature 'stands for manifold document types produced on all levels of government, academics, business and industry in print and electronic formats that are protected by intellectual property rights, of sufficient quality to be collected and preserved by libraries and institutional repositories, but not controlled by commercial publishers'.
This includes government reports, a local Director of Public Health's Annual Report, and NICE Guidelines. This library of grey literature resources with a focus on public health has been compiled by the Public Health England Library and Knowledge Service.
Map of UK Social Policy Evidence
Created by the Social Innovation Partnership and the Alliance for Useful Evidence this interactive resource comprehensively maps the many and diverse organisations which are sources of social policy evidence in the UK. These include the nine UK What Works Centres which 'help to ensure that robust evidence shapes decision-making at every level'
Local Government Association Topics
These themed resources provide access to case studies, news items, publications and briefings from the Local Government Association. Topics include environment and waste, health and social care integration, children and young people, and communities.
NICE Guidelines provide evidence-based recommendations developed by independent committees. They can be browsed by theme, including:
Many NICE Guidelines have a 'full guideline' version which you can find under the EVIDENCE tab on a specific guideline's webpage. The 'full guideline' sets out the background evidence in detail.
Sources of Public Health Data and Intelligence
Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA)
Joint Strategic Needs Assessments are 'assessments of the current and future health and social care needs of the local community - these are needs that could be met by the local authority, CCGs, or the NHS'.
Source: Statutory guidance on joint strategic needs assessments and joint health and wellbeing strategies, Department of Health 2013
JSNAs provide a repository of local quantitative and qualitative data. This is Lincolnshire's current JSNA
Local Health contains indicators* for middle super output areas**, electoral wards, clinical commissioning groups, local authorities, and England as a whole.
*Indicators 'measure the effect of health care on health status at a population level' for example, mortality.
Source: Public Health Textbook
*Output Areas are the lowest geographical level at which census estimates are provided.
The Census Geography resource from the Office for National Statistics provides an overview of output areas, middles super output areas and super output areas.
Public Health England Fingertips
Fingertips is a platform which publishes health and health-related data from Public Health England, providing in-depth analysis in themed Profiles:
Public Health England Data and Analysis Tools
This resource draws together data resources across public health themes including:
NHS Digital collects, processes and publishes data and information from across the health and social care system in England.
Compendium of Public Health Indicators
'An indicator is a measure used to express the behaviour of a system or part of a system.'
Flowers J, Hall P, Pencheon D. Public health indicators. Public Health. 2005;119(4):239-245. doi:10.1016/j.puhe.2005.01.003
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15733682/
Indicators are widely used in public health as a performance management tool.
The Compendium is a collection of indicators, giving a comprehensive overview of population health at a national, regional and local level including alcohol consumption, life expectancy, obesity, mental health and smoking. The compendium can help with:
· comparing the a local area with other regions and national averages
· understanding the population health challenges in an area and how they may be changing over time
· exploring the diverse range of factors that influence health inequalities
A concise guide to how indicators can be used to monitor and improve performance, systems or outcomes in health.
Office for National Statistics
The Office for National Statistics collects and publishes a range of data relating to the population (including births, deaths and the census), the economy and health.
A selection of titles on public health available in the Library
The Oxford Handbook of Public Health Ethics by
Natural disasters and cholera outbreaks. Ebola, SARS, and concerns over pandemic flu. HIV and AIDS. E. coli outbreaks from contaminated produce and fast foods. Threats of bioterrorism. Contamination of compounded drugs. Vaccination refusals and outbreaks of preventable diseases. These are justsome of the headlines from the last 30-plus years highlighting the essential roles and responsibilities of public health, all of which come with ethical issues and the responsibilities they create.Public health has achieved extraordinary successes. And yet these successes also bring with them ethical tension. Not all public health successes are equally distributed in the population; extraordinary health disparities between rich and poor still exist. The most successful public health programssometimes rely on policies that, while improving public health conditions, also limit individual rights. Public health practitioners and policymakers face these and other questions of ethics routinely in their work, and they must navigate their sometimes competing responsibilities to the health ofthe public with other important societal values such as privacy, autonomy, and prevailing cultural norms.This Oxford Handbook provides a sweeping and comprehensive review of the current state of public health ethics, addressing these and numerous other questions. Taking account of the wide range of topics under the umbrella of public health and the ethical issues raised by them, this volume isorganized into fifteen sections. It begins with two sections that discuss the conceptual foundations, ethical tensions, and ethical frameworks of and for public health and how public health does its work. The thirteen sections that follow examine the application of public health ethicsconsiderations and approaches across a broad range of public health topics. While chapters are organized into topical sections, each chapter is designed to serve as a standalone contribution. The book includes 73 chapters covering many topics from varying perspectives, a recognition of the diversityof the issues that define public health ethics in the U.S. and globally. This Handbook is an authoritative and indispensable guide to the state of public health ethics today.
Public Health and Health Promotion for Nurses at a Glance by
Public Health and Health Promotion for Nurses at a Glance is the perfect companion for study and revision for nursing students and practitioners. Health promotion is a growing core component of nursing care, and this text combines superb illustrations with accessible information to make the key concepts of health promotion clear and easy to understand. It also provides guidance for how this can be applied in daily practice in all fields of nursing to promote the health of individual patients and communities. Divided into six sections, the first looks at the relationship between the outcomes of public health and the outcomes of nursing, before going on to explore the definitions and different approaches of health promotion.This includes the causes and determinants of morbidity and mortality, and the skills and resources that can support nurses in promoting health with individual patients. It also examines strategies for working with communities to improve health, as well as the ethics of health promotion in nursing. The perfect revision and consolidation textbook Closely linked with the public health outcomes as represented by the NMC, the 6Cs of nursing, essential nursing skills clusters as well as the implications for nursing arising from recent inquiries. Highly visual colour presentation, with full colour illustrations throughout
The Social Determinants of Health by
This timely book takes seriously the idea of understanding how our social world - and not individual responsibility or the healthcare system - is the primary determinant of our health. Kathryn Strother Ratcliff puts into practice the "upstream" imagery from public health discourse, which locates the causes (and solutions) of health problems within the social environment. Each chapter explains how the policies, politics, and power behind corporate and governmental decisions and actions produce unhealthy circumstances of living - such as poverty, pollution, dangerous working conditions, and unhealthy modes of food production - and demonstrates that putting profit and politics over people is unhealthy and unsustainable. While the book examines how these unhealthy conditions of life generate significant class and ethnic health disparities, the focus is on everyone's health. Arguing that none of us should be placed in health-threatening situations that could have been prevented, Ratcliff's provocative analysis uses social justice and human rights lenses to guide the discussion "upstream," toward possible changes that should produce a healthier world for us all. Using data and ideas from many disciplines, the book provides a synthesis of invaluable information for activists and policymakers, as well as for professionals and students in sociology, public health, and other fields related to health.
The Health of People by
As Britain ages amid austerity, more and more people will suffer from long-term health conditions. Obesity and diabetes are on the rise. Mental health problems are widespread. Tobacco and addictions are well-known killers. Each condition brings high costs, both financial and social. Meanwhile, budgets for the NHS, social care and public health are being squeezed. Despite this potential crisis, new opportunities are emerging to support both healthcare providers and the population. Advances in understanding will change how behavior can prevent and mitigate ill health. Our approach to health must become more "social." The Health of People - a report compiled by the Campaign for Social Sciences - investigates a range of ways to cut the cost of health interventions and to improve patient outcomes as well as ways of preventing people becoming patients. The report includes arguments for and case studies in favor of a more rounded, social science informed view of health and well-being. It concludes with an invitation to clinicians and policy makers to think outside the box of "care" about the causes and prevention of ill health.
Health Promotion and Public Health for Nursing Students by
Preventing illness and improving the general health of the population is a vital priority for the health service with nurses expected to play a central role. Written using clear language, Health Promotion and Public Health for Nursing Students explains what health promotion is and how it interacts with public health. It shows how health promotion can be implemented while drawing on the main theories, models, and evidence that inform practice. The book covers the essential topics like lifestyle changes, health screening, and patient education, giving readers the necessary tools and confidence to integrate health promotion into your day to day nursing practice. Transforming Nursing Practice is a series tailor made for preregistration student nurses. Each book in the series is: Affordable Mapped to the NMC Standards and Essential Skills Clusters Focused on applying theory to practice Full of active learning features "The set of books is an excellent resource for students. The series is small, easily portable, and valuable. I use the whole set on a regular basis." --Fiona Davies, Senior Nurse Lecturer, University of Derby
Public Health by
This highly anticipated new edition of Glenn Laverack's Public Health: Power, Empowerment and Professional Practice has been fully revised throughout to provide readers with a practical understanding of how to help others to empower themselves in public health practice. The book explores the key concept of power and offers practical solutions for transforming professional power relations; it introduces a methodology to plan, implement and evaluate public health programmes; and it investigates the implications of empowerment on public health practice.The book also offers two new chapters: 'Patient Empowerment' and 'Helping Migrant Populations to Become Empowered', both emerging international public health issues. The new edition is a timely and valuable literary addition that has been designed for those who want to work in a more empowering way. So whether you're studying or practising, if you aspire to be a more effective and empowering practitioner this book will help you realise your professional goals.Glenn Laverack has spent his whole life living and working with people who experience powerlessness and who suffer the consequences of poverty and inequality. He has a strong academic and practice background and has worked for more than 30 years in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Pacific regions.
A-Z of Public Health by
This book provides a clear and comprehensive introduction to the many definitions, theories and approaches in public health. It is an important book for students and practitioners who are interested in public health, and for those who are keen to improve it.
Donaldsons' Essential Public Health by
Donaldsons' Essential Public Health has been in continuous print for 35 years, evolving through successive editions. This unrivalled record of success for a textbook of public health shows the enduring appeal of its content, style, and accessibility to generations of students and practitioners. For many of today's national and global public health leaders, the book was their guide as they began their careers, their benchmark as they passed their examinations and professional accreditation, and remains their companion as a source of reference and refreshed knowledge for teaching and practice. The book brings together, in one volume, the main health problems experienced by populations and by the key groups within them, the strategies for promoting health and preventing disease, the principles and applications of epidemiology, the main themes of health policy, and a description of health service provision. This fourth edition marks the biggest change to the book in 20 years. For the first time it sets each key subject area in a global health context, whilst retaining its traditional strength in covering population health for the United Kingdom. New and revised chapters for this edition include: Health in a changing world Communicable diseases Non-communicable diseases Social determinants of health Quality and safety of healthcare Mental health Disability Health in later life Environment and health History of public health The content is wide-ranging and written in an accessible and engaging style. It covers topics as diverse as: the story of the 2014 Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa; the elements of tobacco control policy; the health impact of climate change; the global health organisational architecture; the concept of health; the new paradigm of public mental health; the biological pathways that link to the health effects of social deprivation; the ideal of universal health coverage; the essentials of immunisation; the basis of healthy ageing; the historical events that led to the germ theory of disease and the Victorian sanitary revolution. This new edition is essential reading for all undergraduate and postgraduate students of public health, medicine, nursing, health policy, social science, and public sector management. Those embarking on a career in public health will find it of great value throughout their professional life. The book is also an extremely useful resource for established practitioners in primary care, doctors, senior nurses, health system managers, healthcare policy makers, civil servants in ministries of health, and members of boards of health organisations.
Oxford Handbook of Public Health Practice 4e by
Fully revised and updated for the fourth edition, the award-winning Oxford Handbook of Public Health Practice remains the first resort for practitioners in the field. Structured into practical sections addressed towards professional competencies and translating evidence into policy, this Handbook provides concise summaries and covers real issues from across the globe, providing a world of experience at your fingertips. Easy-to-use,concise, and practical, this Handbook is divided into seven parts that focus on the vital areas of this broad discipline. Reflecting recent advances, the most promising developments in the practice of publichealth are presented, along with essential summaries of the core disciplines. Specific sections are devoted to the development of professional competencies including negotiation, communicating risk to the public, community action, and translating evidence into policy. Written by an international team of experts, and considering both social and scientific advances since the previous edition, this Handbook will assist students, trainees and practitioners around the worldwith its enriched information on the management of disasters, epidemics, health behaviour, acute and chronic disease prevention, community and government action, environmental heath, vulnerablepopulations, and more.
Partnership Working in Public Health by
The UK government's reforms of the NHS and public health system require partnerships if they are to succeed. Those partnerships concerned with public health are especially important and are deemed to be a 'good thing' which add, rather than consume, value. Yet the significant emphasis on partnership working to secure effective policy and service delivery exists despite the evidence testifying to how difficult it is to make partnerships work or achieve results. Partnership working in public health presents the findings from a detailed study of public health partnerships in England. The lessons from the research are used to explore the government's changes in public health now being implemented, most of which centre on new partnerships called Health and Wellbeing Boards that have been established to work differently from their predecessors.The book assesses their likely impact and the implications for the future of public health partnerships. Drawing on systems thinking, it argues that partnerships can only succeed if they work in quite different ways. The book will therefore appeal to the public health community and students of health policy.
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