The focus of public health is on populations and communities. This is a very different perspective from the day-to-day focus of most health professionals on the health problems of individuals. We hope in this book to introduce students and practitioners of nursing and other health and social care workers to the ‘public health perspective’, to provide a framework for examining public health issues and to allow the reader to start to place her or his practice within the wider context of health, and determinants of health, of the community in which they work.
This book is a study guide. Our goal is to encourage you to think through, and be critical about, key issues to do with the measurement and improvement of public health and the role in this played by organized health care. The chapters cover topics which we hope will enable this goal to be achieved. There may be other areas you feel we should have covered. We would very much welcome your feedback on the content and any other aspect of this book.
- The Authors -
This book is a study guide. Our goal is to encourage you to think through, and be critical about, key issues to do with the measurement and improvement of public health and the role in this played by organized health care. The chapters cover topics which we hope will enable this goal to be achieved. There may be other areas you feel we should have covered. We would very much welcome your feedback on the content and any other aspect of this book.
- The Authors -
Each chapter has a standard format and is presented in the following way:
- Questions: some examples of the kinds of questions the chapter will help you to answer.
- Outcomes: what you should be able to do after working through the chapter and the exercises provided.
- Exercises: these are presented throughout the chapter. They are there to help you understand key issues. It is therefore important to work through them. You’ll be pleased to hear that most of them are very short. There are a few exercises that will involve going away and seeking out other information, but these are identified in the text and are optional. They are there if you wish to develop further your understanding of a particular issue.
- Summary: key issues, ideas or concepts from the chapter are identified in summary questions. Spaces are left for your responses for two main reasons:
- (1) by completing this section you can revise the issues of the chapter and assess for yourself how well you have met the outcomes;
- (2) you can make your own summary specific to your particular health interests and your branch of health or social care.
- Public health standards: at the end of each chapter a table is provided which lists ten public health standards. You are invited to consider which are pertinent to the chapter content, to reflect on your current skills and knowledge, and to develop action plans to address any learning needs.
Contents
- Preface ix
- Introduction 1
- 1 Lessons from the history of public health and epidemiology for the twenty-first century 5
- 2 Sources and critical use of health information 17
- 3 Measuring the frequency of health problems 35
- 4 Measures of risk 49
- 5 Epidemiological study designs 57
- 6 Weighing up the evidence from epidemiological studies 72
- 7 The determinants of health and disease 83
- 8 Health promotion 97
- 9 Health needs analysis 111
- 10 Principles of screening 131
- 11 Changing public health: what impacts on public health practice? 146
- Further reading, references and resources 160
- Index 168
About the Author
- Susan Carr is Reader in Public Health and Primary Care at Northumbria University,UK, where she researches and teaches public health and primary care issues.
- Nigel Unwin is Professor of Epidemiology, in Advancing Research in Chronic Disease Epidemiology (ARCHES) and lead of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Diabetes, in the Institute of Health and Society at Newcastle University, UK.
- Tanja Pless-Mulloli is Professor of Environmental Epidemiology and lead of the Environment and Health team in the Institute of Health and Society at Newcastle University, UK.
Product Details
- Paperback: 192 pages
- Publisher: Open University Press; 2 edition (September 1, 2008)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0335216242
- ISBN-13: 978-0335216246
- Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.7 x 0.6 inches
List Price: $45.00