Chapter One

Question 1

What is public health?

Answer 1

“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 principles of personal hygiene, the organization of medical and nursing services for the 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 the maintenance of health.” – Charles-Edward A. Winslow (1920)

Question 2

Mission of Public Health

Answer 2

“To fulfill the society’s interest in assuring the conditions in which people can be healthy.” – The Future of Public Health (1988)

Question 3

3 Core Functions of Public Health

Answer 3

1. Assessment
2. Policy Development
3. Assurance

Question 4

Assessment

Answer 4

• Monitor health status to identify community health problems
• Diagnose and investigate health problems and health hazards in the community

Question 5

Policy Development

Answer 5

• Inform, educate, and empower people about health issues
• Mobilize community partnerships to identify and solve health problems
• Develop policies and plans that support individual and community health efforts

Question 6

Assurance

Answer 6

• Enforce laws and regulations that protect health and ensure safety
• Link people to needed personal health services and assure the provision of healthcare when otherwise unavailable
• Ensure a competent public health and personal healthcare workforce
• Evaluate effectiveness, accessibility, and quality of personal and population-based health services

Question 7

How are all functions of public health served?

Answer 7

Research for new insights and innovative solutions to health problems

Question 8

Epidemiology

Answer 8

Study of epidemics

Question 9

What does public health depend on? (4 things)

Answer 9

• Statistics
• Biomedical sciences
• Environmental health science
• Social and behavioral health science

Question 10

What category is the study of public health put into?

Answer 10

Health policy management and health administration

Question 11

5 Step Approach to Community Health Problems

Answer 11

1. Define the health problem
2. Identify the risk factors associated with the problem
3. Develop and test community-level interventions to control or prevent the cause of the problem
4. Implement interventions to improve the health of the population
5. Monitor those interventions to assess their effectiveness

Question 12

What are the 3 levels of prevention?

Answer 12

Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary

Question 13

Primary Prevention

Answer 13

Preventing an illness/injury from occurring at all

Question 14

Secondary Prevention

Answer 14

Minimizes the severity of the illness or damage due to an injury-causing event once the event has occurred

Question 15

Tertiary Prevention

Answer 15

Minimizes disability by providing medical care and rehabilitation services

Question 16

Chain of Causation Model

Answer 16

Agent → host → environment → agent….