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Lincoln Medical School

A guide to the using the library for students of the University of Nottingham Lincoln Medical School.

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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.

Public Health- sources for evidence, data and intelligence

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

King's Fund – Public Health

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'.

Source: Joachim Schöpfel. Towards a Prague Definition of Grey Literature. Twelfth International Conference on Grey Literature: Transparency in Grey Literature. Grey Tech Approaches to High Tech Issues. Prague, 6-7 December 2010

 

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

NICE Guidelines provide evidence-based recommendations developed by independent committees. They can be browsed by theme, including:

  • Health protection
  • Lifestyle and wellbeing
  • Population groups

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

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:

  • specific health conditions – including cancer, mental health, cardiovascular disease
  • lifestyle risk factors – including smoking, alcohol and obesity
  • wider determinants of health – including environment, housing and deprivation
  • health protection, and differences between population groups, including adults, older people, and children

 

NHS Digital

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 

Browse our collection of e-journals on public health through Browzine