Chapter 1
The Need for Change in the Practice of Public Health
Learning Objectives
- Explain the primary mission of public health
- Define health
- Define primary prevention
- Describe population health
- Discuss the history of public health and its impact on current public health services
- Identify the characteristics of quality in the field of public health
Mission and Services of Public Health
Public health organizations, particularly government agencies, are pulled in many directions, and have had difficulty in both addressing the multiple determinants of health and providing population-centered services to improve community health outcomes. Determinants of health are the factors in the personal, social, economic, and environmental areas of life ...
