What is Public health?

Public health is the approach to medicine that is concerned with the health of the community as a whole. Public health is community health. It has been said that: "Health care is vital to all of us some of the time, but public health is vital to all of us all of the time."

The mission of public health is to "fulfill society's interest in assuring conditions in which people can be healthy." The three core public health functions are:

·         The assessment and monitoring of the health of communities and populations at risk to identify health problems and priorities;

·         The formulation of public policies designed to solve identified local and national health problems and priorities;

·         To assure that all populations have access to appropriate and cost-effective care, including health promotion and disease prevention services, and evaluation of the effectiveness of that care.

Public health is comprised of many professional disciplines such as medicine, dentistry, nursing, optometry, nutrition, social work, environmental sciences, health education, health services administration, and the behavioral sciences; however its activities focus on entire populations rather than on individual patients.

Doctors usually treat individual patients one-on-one for a specific disease or injury. Public health professionals monitor and diagnose the health concerns of entire communities and promote healthy practices and behaviors to assure our populations stay healthy.

Adapted from medicineNet.com