With an emphasis on prevention, the field of public health is devoted to improving the quality of life for people within a given population. Public health professionals significantly improve lives through data-driven programs and community initiatives, reducing disease, raising awareness, and improving overall outcomes.
What Is Public Health?
So, what is public health, exactly? The American Public Health Association defines public health as the practice of preventing disease and promoting good health within a specific community or population. Public health initiatives and programs are designed for a wide range of populations, including small, local groups and national populations. For example, a public health program may be created for workers employed at a local manufacturing facility, but there may also be national public health initiatives aimed at the residents of the entire country.
In today’s complex, modern world, public health plays a critical role in preventing disease, promoting wellness, and addressing societal health concerns.
The Core Functions of Public Health
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) breaks down the core functions of public health into three categories: assessment, policy development, and assurance. The core functions of public health provide public health professionals with a framework for their programs, allowing them to better understand the scope of the public health field and their role within a given community.
These are the three core functions of public health:
Assessment
As the first core function of public health, assessment is an essential part of any public health initiative. Assessment requires public health professionals to monitor the health of the community. For instance, a public health professional may monitor wastewater treatment data to identify the early signs of disease outbreak within a community. In addition to monitoring the health of the community, public health professionals must also work to investigate any signs of disease outbreak or health concerns and identify the root cause. This allows them to continue to make public health programming and produce public health communications that are relevant and impactful.
Policy Development
Public health professionals must also actively work to develop and promote public health policies that will improve community health overall. To develop effective public health policies, public health officials must:
- Create strategic public health communications plans to keep the public informed about potential health risks in the community.
- Develop community partnerships to garner support for public health within the community.
- Partner with legislators to create and implement public health policies emphasizing disease prevention, environmental health, and human health.
Assurance
Through assurance, experts in the field can develop a strong and robust public health system within a community. Public health professionals should actively work to build a strong organizational infrastructure surrounding the public health system to create a system that will maintain consistency through transitional periods. In addition, they should actively work to promote and improve research efforts to uncover the data needed to create impactful public health programming. Above all else, public health professionals should prioritize accessibility and equity, ensuring that people of all backgrounds within a community can enjoy a high quality of life.
Key Areas of Public Health
Within the field of public health, there are several key disciplines to consider. In many cases, public health professionals choose one key area to specialize in, allowing them to tailor their career path and pursue an area of interest they are passionate about.
The major disciplines within public health include:
Epidemiology
According to the National Institute of Health, epidemiology is defined as the study of disease spread within a community. Naturally, epidemiology plays an important role in public health, as public health experts are charged with assessing and monitoring disease spread in a community, with an emphasis on disease prevention. For example, during the global pandemic, epidemiologists had to track the spread of the novel COVID-19 virus in real time, providing the public with live updates about disease spread in their community so that they could take action to protect themselves and others.
Environmental Health
Environmental health is an essential part of any comprehensive public health strategy. Environmental health refers to the environmental factors that may impact community health, such as lead levels in the water or pollution in the air. Public health professionals address community environmental health issues and create solutions.
Health Education and Promotion
Health education and promotion are a vital part of public health. Through health education and promotion, public health officials can provide people living in a community with the specific and actionable information needed to live healthier lives. Developing health education strategies requires public health professionals to:
- Assess the needs of the community and identify key public health challenges and concerns.
- Create personalized learning activities, experiences, and programming that meet the unique needs of the population.
- Develop content and resources that accommodate the learning styles and preferences of the population.
- Implement programming that is convenient and accessible for all people within a community.
Global Health
Global health is a public health discipline with a broad scope. Global health initiatives are created to address concerns that affect the worldwide population. Global health professionals address climate change by creating programs and resources to educate the public and promote healthier lives.
Why Is Public Health Important?
Public health initiatives are critically important, particularly as the world faces increasingly complex public health challenges. Over the past century, the increased emphasis on public health has helped to improve life expectancy, reduce disease rates, and enhance the quality of life for many people.
The CDC cites some of the most successful public health initiatives in the 20th and 21st centuries, including:
- Creating a vaccine for the novel COVID-19 virus and quickly distributing that vaccine in an attempt to thwart the pandemic.
- Developing safer workplaces, particularly for workers who may be exposed to toxins and other environmental health concerns while on the job site.
- Improving the safety of food through increased regulations.
- Implementing tobacco control policies that limit the accessibility of tobacco, particularly to minors.
Careers in Public Health
There are many career opportunities in public health to consider, allowing you to pursue a career path that aligns with your strengths and personal interests in the public health field. These are some of the common public health roles:
- Epidemiologists
- Health educators
- Environmental health specialists
- Public health policy analysts
- Public health consultants
Public Health Professionals
Public health professionals work in a variety of settings, including governmental agencies, non-profit organizations, and private sector businesses. Public health professionals include community health workers, restaurant inspectors, social workers, first responders, public health nurses, epidemiologists, biostatisticians, and health educators, to name a few.
Public Health Organizations
Public health professionals may find employment at some of the leading public health organizations, such as:
- World Health Organization
- United States Department of Health and Human Services
- Centers for Disease Control
- Health Resources and Services Administration
Challenges and Future of Public Health
The need for experienced, qualified, and intuitive public health professionals will continue to grow in the coming decades, particularly as the field continues to grapple with the emerging challenges of the modern era. Some of the leading challenges currently being faced in the public health field include epidemics, pandemics, antimicrobial resistance, climate change, and health disparities. Today’s public health professionals are working to address these challenges through research, technology, and policy reform. Still, the need for continued persistence and perseverance in the public health profession continues to grow.
Emerging Health Threats
While public health professionals continue to grapple with the health challenges facing the world today, they are also looking to the future to prepare for emerging health crises. Some of the leading health threats include infectious disease outbreaks, antibiotic resistance, opioid addiction, and cancer.
Health Equity and Accessibility
Public health officials are charged with improving health equity and increasing accessibility, ensuring that everyone has access to the resources they need to achieve positive health outcomes. Public health programming is often developed with the social determinants of health in mind in an effort to reduce disparities and promote health equity.
The Role of Technology in Public Health
Technological advancements, such as data analytics, artificial intelligence, and telehealth services, are shaping the future of public health. Many public health professionals today use advanced digital tools for disease tracking, health education, and remote healthcare delivery.
Public Health and Its Role Today
With an emphasis on disease prevention and a goal of improving the health of an entire community, public health is a dynamic field that will be critically important in the years to come. Through data-driven public health programming, public health professionals can protect communities and improve the quality of life for all people who live there.
What is Public Health? Learn More at Johnson & Wales University Online
Public health is intrinsically linked to community health. When public health initiatives are implemented thoughtfully and properly, the quality of life within a given population improves significantly. At Johnson & Wales University Online, we offer an online Bachelor of Science in Public Health degree program that equips you with the knowledge and skills needed to pursue a public health career and improve health equity in your community. Featuring a comprehensive curriculum, this program explores trending public health topics, such as public health information, public health communications, and public health policy and research.
For more information about completing your degree online, complete the Request Info form, call 855-JWU-1881, or email [email protected].