What is public health?2 mins read

I thought I knew the correct answer to this until I started researching alternate careers for my personal journey and Doctors Without Steths. Somewhere in my head, public health was health education, disease prevention with a good serving of epidemiology, dasall. I really don’t know where I got this idea from, probably because I equated it with community health for the longest time. I was pleasantly surprised when I realised that Public Health has 6 whole core areas. This knowledge is what I share with you today.

So now, what really is public health?

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines it as “the art and science of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts of society”. (Acheson, 1988; WHO). At first glance, this definition may reinforce the idea that all there is to the field is prevention. While that is a core principle of all aspects, it involves way more than that.

Public Health is an empiric and multidisciplinary field whose goal is to assure conditions in which people can be healthy. It’s multidisciplinary feature makes it very diverse field that involves several specialisations. Medicine ensures good health by mainly focusing on treating diseases/illnesses via individualised care. Meanwhile, public health improves health via population-based approaches.

In my search, I found that there were varying categorisations of the various aspects of public health. However, the most consistent categorisation involved the five competencies explained below. I took the categorization and explanation used in this article from Walden University’s Master of Public Health page.

Biostatistics

This competency applies the science of statistics to the field of public health. Biostatistics enable public health professionals to address pressing health issues by analyzing and interpreting data, then applying mathematical and statistical formulas to solve public health problems.

Environmental Health Sciences

Environmental factors can have significant impacts on the health of a community. The field of environmental health sciences focuses on how the environment—including biological, physical, and chemical factors—affects human health.

Epidemiology

A field commonly associated with public health and public health degree programs, epidemiology is the study of diseases within populations, including the patterns, detection, causes, and control of infectious disease epidemics.

Health Policy and Management

Access to and delivery of healthcare and healthcare programs can determine the well-being of communities. The multidisciplinary field of health policy and management is concerned with the delivery, quality, and costs of healthcare for individuals and populations from a managerial and a policy perspective, including but not limited to the cost, organization, and accessibility of care.

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Sociocultural and behavioral factors greatly contribute to the health of populations. With an ultimate goal of creating and sustaining healthy communities, the study of social and behavioral sciences in the field of public health examines how behavioral, social, and cultural issues contribute to public health issues.

There are other sub-categories within these competencies – for example, health economics may fall under health policy and management. Looking at public health through this lens, we see that it’s a diverse field that involves a lot more than community outreaches or medical education.

I hope you have been able to broaden your view of what public health is from reading through. I know researching and writing have helped broaden mine.