Introduction to Community and Public Health

Manoj Sharma, Paul W. Branscum, Ashutosh Atri

• Publisher: Jossey-Bass
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN: 9781118410554
• eBook ISBN: 9781118448380
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Public Health, Administration & Care

Learn the basics of the five core areas of community and public health

Introduction to Community and Public Health covers the basics in each area of community and public health as identified by the Association of Schools of Public Health. In a student-friendly approach, authors Manoj Sharma, Paul W. Branscum, and Ashutosh Atri discuss epidemiology, biostatistics, social and behavioral sciences, environmental health, and healthy policy and management. Written to serve both graduate and undergraduate public health students, as well as to help prepare for the Certified in Public Health (CPH) exam, Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES) exam and Master certified in Health Education Specialist (MCHES) exam, the book covers each of these five core disciplines, plus other important topics such as:

• Population dynamics and control
• Air, water, and noise pollution, and other environmental issues
• Program planning, budgeting, management, and evaluation
• Systems thinking and leadership in community and public health

Students will gain insight into the descriptive, inferential, and analytical aspects of community and public health, as well as models, methods, and theories in health education and health promotion. Introduction to Community and Public Health provides the foundation necessary to build the skills of tomorrow's community and public health leaders.

Chapter 1
Introduction to Community and Public Health

---

Learning Objectives

After reading this chapter you should be able to

• Define basic terms in community and public health.
• Differentiate between medicine and community and public health.
• Identify issues in community and public health.
• Identify and classify factors affecting community and public health.
• Describe local, state, national, and global organizations in community and public health.
• Trace the historical timeline of community and public health.
• Explain the current challenges confronting community and public health.

---

This chapter has been designed to give an overview of the field of community and public health. Included in this chapter are basic terms pertaining to community and public health, issues with which the field grapples, factors influencing the health of a community, and descriptions of key agencies in the field. A description of the genesis of community and public health and a timeline of key events in its history are also presented. The chapter concludes with a discussion of current challenges facing community and public health.

Defining Community and Public Health

The constitution of the World Health Organization defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (World Health Organization [WHO], 1947, p. 29). This definition has several shortcomings, such as the fact that health is dynamic and not a state, the dimensions mentioned in the definition are insufficient (the spiritual, political, and economic dimensions are missing), the definition is subjective (making it difficult to measure health as defined here), the definition is idealistic rather than realistic, and the definition considers health to be an end product rather than a means. Another major limitation is that it treats health as a personal or individual-level construct as opposed to a community-level construct. Should health be considered only at the individual level, or does it also have meaning at the community level? The answer to this is clearly that health must be considered at both individual and community levels. Thus a more useful definition of health, given by Sharma and Romas (2012, p. 277), is, “a means to achieve desirable goals in life while maintaining a multidimensional (physical, mental, social, political, economic, and spiritual) equilibrium that is operationalized for individuals as well as for communities.” Figure 1.1 shows one of health's many dimensions. Before we begin defining what community health means let us first define what community means.

---

health

A means to achieve desirable goals in life while maintaining a multidimensional (physical, mental, social, political, economic, and spiritual) equilibrium that is operationalized for individuals as well as for communities.

---

Figure 1.1 One of the Many Dimensions of Health

Source: Photo courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ID# 14026, CDC/Amanda Mills, retrieved from http://phil.cdc.gov/phil/home.asp

A community is a group of individuals who share common interests and characteristics. Often they are living in the same geographical area and have a common cultural and historical heritage. Individuals in a community are bound to each other by social, religious, ethnic, occupational, or other characteristics that they have in common. They usually follow some shared rules. Hunter (1975) has identified three types of community units: (1) units that accomplish basic needs for sustenance, (2) units for social interaction, and (3) units of symbolic collective identity. Examples of communities are people living in Cincinnati (common geographical location), African Americans in Cincinnati (common race), Hispanics in Cincinnati (common ethnicity), Mexican Americans in Cincinnati (common national origin), Christians in Cincinnati (common religion), health educators in Cincinnati (common occupation), adolescents in Cincinnati (common age), breast cancer survivors in Cincinnati (common problem), and users of Facebook (common social network, in this instance a cyber community).

---

community

A group of individuals who share common interests and characteristics.

---

---

Community health involves three fundamental functions: (1) promotion of good health in a defined group of individuals, (2) protection of good health in a defined group of individuals, and (3) maintenance of good health in a defined group of individuals.

---

Having defined health and community we are now ready to define community health and public health. Community health has been defined by Green and Ottoson (1999, p. 4) as “the health status of a community and . . . the organized responsibilities of public health, school health, transportation, safety, and other tax-supported functions, with voluntary and private actions to promote and protect the health of local populations identified as communities.” Community health involves three fundamental functions: (1) promotion of good health in a defined group of individuals, (2) protection of good health in a defined group of individuals, and (3) maintenance of good health in a defined group of individuals. Promotion entails health education and the creation of environmental conditions conducive to good health. Figure 1.2 shows an example of p...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Figures and Tables
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• The Authors
• Chapter 1: Introduction to Community and Public Health
• Chapter 2: Descriptive Epidemiology in Community and Public Health
• Chapter 3: Analytical Epidemiology in Community and Public Health
• Chapter 4: Descriptive Biostatistics in Community and Public Health
• Chapter 5: Inferential Biostatistics in Community and Public Health
• Chapter 6: Social and Behavioral Sciences in Community and Public Health
• Chapter 7: Models in Health Education and Health Promotion
• Chapter 8: Theories in Health Education and Health Promotion
• Chapter 9: Methods in Health Education and Health Promotion
• Chapter 10: Population Dynamics and Control
• Chapter 11: Air, Water, and Noise Pollution
• Chapter 12: Injury Control and Other Environmental Issues
• Chapter 13: Organization, Financing, and Delivery of Health Services and Public Health Systems in the United States
• Chapter 14: Program Planning, Budgeting, Management, and Evaluation in Community Initiatives
• Chapter 15: Systems Thinking and Leadership in Community and Public Health
• Glossary
• Index
• End User License Agreement