Epidemiology: Global and Public Health
Comparison Paper
Laura Nelli
NUR 408 Epidemiology: Global and Public Health
March 25, 2012
Bonnie Copland, RN, PHN, MSN
The purpose of this paper is to describe the history of public health, including pertinent dates and significant events and the different aspects of public and community-based health. Public health is the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals (Winslow, 1920). It is concerned with threats to health based on population health analysis. The population in question can be as small as a handful of people or as large as all the inhabitants of several continents (for instance, in the case of a pandemic). The dimensions of health can encompass "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity", as defined by the United Nations World Health Organization. Public health incorporates the interdisciplinary approaches of epidemiology, biostatistics and health service. Environmental health, community health, behavioral health and occupational health are other important subfields. The focus of public health intervention is to improve health and quality of life through the prevention and treatment of disease and other physical and mental health conditions, through surveillance of cases and the promotion of healthy behaviors. Promotion of hand washing and breastfeeding, delivery of vaccinations, and the distribution of condoms to control the spread of sexually transmitted diseases are examples of common public health measures.
The origins of the Public Health Service can be traced to the passage of an act in 1798 that provided for the care and relief of sick and injured merchant seamen. Reorganization in 1870 converted the loose network of locally controlled hospitals into a centrally controlled Marine Hospital Service,
Laura Nelli
NUR 408 Epidemiology: Global and Public Health
March 25, 2012
Bonnie Copland, RN, PHN, MSN
The purpose of this paper is to describe the history of public health, including pertinent dates and significant events and the different aspects of public and community-based health. Public health is the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals (Winslow, 1920). It is concerned with threats to health based on population health analysis. The population in question can be as small as a handful of people or as large as all the inhabitants of several continents (for instance, in the case of a pandemic). The dimensions of health can encompass "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity", as defined by the United Nations World Health Organization. Public health incorporates the interdisciplinary approaches of epidemiology, biostatistics and health service. Environmental health, community health, behavioral health and occupational health are other important subfields. The focus of public health intervention is to improve health and quality of life through the prevention and treatment of disease and other physical and mental health conditions, through surveillance of cases and the promotion of healthy behaviors. Promotion of hand washing and breastfeeding, delivery of vaccinations, and the distribution of condoms to control the spread of sexually transmitted diseases are examples of common public health measures.
The origins of the Public Health Service can be traced to the passage of an act in 1798 that provided for the care and relief of sick and injured merchant seamen. Reorganization in 1870 converted the loose network of locally controlled hospitals into a centrally controlled Marine Hospital Service,