What is Public Health?

• Health of the population focused on the 3 P’s:
  • Preventing disease
  • Promoting health
  • Prolonging quality of life
• Public health is the art and science of protecting and improving the health of people and their communities
  • Promoting healthy lifestyles, researching disease and injury, prevention, detecting and responding to infectious diseases
• A large part of public health is promoting health equity, focusing on disparities and addressing social determinants of health, quality and accessibility.

What do Public Health Professionals do?

• Prevent epidemics and the spread of disease
• Protects against environmental hazards
• Prevents injuries
• Promotes and encourages healthy behaviors
• Responds to disasters and assists communities in recovery
• Assures the quality and accessibility of health services

10 Essential Services of Public Health

View CDC Web Site

1. Assess and monitor population health status, factors that influence health, and community needs and assets
2. Investigate, diagnose, and address health problems and hazards affecting the population
3. Communicate effectively to inform and educate people about health, factors that influence it, and how to improve it
4. Strengthen, support, and mobilize communities and partnerships to improve health
5. Create, champion, and implement policies, plans, and laws that impact health
6. Utilize legal and regulatory actions designed to improve and protect the public’s health
7. Assure an effective system that enables equitable access to the individual services and care needed to be healthy
8. Build and support a diverse and skilled public health workforce
9. Improve and innovate public health functions through ongoing evaluation, research, and continuous quality improvement
10. Build and maintain a strong organizational infrastructure for public health

3 Buckets of Public Health Prevention

Assist with National Voluntary Accreditation for Health Departments

• Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB)
  • National accrediting body for public health departments
  • Established in 2007
  • Program launched in September 2011
    • www.phaboard.org
• Co-funded by CDC and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
• Field driven―guided by practitioner input and testing

The goal of a voluntary national accreditation program is to improve and protect the public’s health by advancing the quality and performance of state, tribal, local, and territorial public health departments