This book looks at the foundations of public health, its historical evolution, the themes that underpin public health, the increasing importance of globalization and the most important causes of avoidable disease and injury.

“You won’t find a better textbook on public health than this. Comprehensive, authoritative, up-to-date, informative, and very readable. A must for all public health reading lists.” Emeritus Professor Mike Daube, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia “In Issues in Public Health you will find detailed, evidence-based, contemporary discussion about the wide range of public health challenges facing public health professionals around the world.” Mary Lyons, Senior Lecturer in Public Health, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, UK “An essential resource for anyone looking to understand the foundations of public health and its ongoing evolution.” Dr Sandro Galea, Dean and Robert A. Knox Professor at Boston University School of Public Health, USA What is public health? By looking at the foundations of public health, its historical and contemporary evolution, and the themes that underpin public health, this book provides detailed answers to this important question and encourages you to develop your critical thinking skills. Written by experts in the field, the book discusses the core issues of modern public health, such as tackling vested interests head on, empowering people so they can make healthy decisions, and acknowledging the political nature of the issues. This new edition has a section on mental health, as well as five new chapters reflecting key contemporary and global issues: • Commercial determinants of health • Planetary health • Conflict and health • Ethics surrounding human rights and public health • Information and public health The third edition of Issues in Public Health provides a thorough overview of the key concepts, practices, and principles of public health. Timely and relevant examples have been used to illustrate the challenges and opportunities global events such as the COVID-19 pandemic have brought to the surface. Understanding Public Health is an innovative series published by Open University Press in collaboration with the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, where it is used as a key learning resource for postgraduate programmes. It provides self-directed learning covering the major issues in public health affecting low, middle and high income countries. Series Editors: Rosalind Plowman and Nicki Thorogood.

Public health entails the use of models, technologies, experience and evidence derived through consumer participation, translational research and population sciences to protect and improve the health of the population. Enhancing public health is of significant importance to the development of a nation, particularly for developing countries where the health care system is underdeveloped, fragile or vulnerable.This book examines progress and challenges with regards to public health in developing countries in two parts: Part 1 “General and Crosscutting Issues in Public Health and Case Studies” and Part 2 “Country-Specific Issues in Public Health.” For example, assuring equity for marginalized indigenous groups and other key populations entails the application of transdisciplinary interventions including legislation, advocacy, financing, empowerment and de-stigmatization. The diverse structural, political, economic, technological, geographical and social landscape of developing countries translates to unique public health challenges, infrastructure and implementation trajectories in addressing issues such as vector-borne diseases and intimate partner violence.This volume will be of interest to researchers, health ministry policy makers, public health professionals and non-governmental organizations whose work entails collaborations with public health systems of developing nations and regions.

Public Health and Society: Current Issues analyzes current public health issues in a historical context, while relating them to individual lives. The text emphasizes the social determinants of health, social justice, and the climate crisis, by leading off with these important topics and then integrates them where appropriate throughout the text. Subsequent chapters explore gun violence, the opioid epidemic, tobacco, vaping, and alcohol use, COVID-19, mental health, environmental health chronic disease, emerging and reemerging diseases, and more. Key features “In the News” articles bring public health topics up-to-date and underscore their modern relevance. Personal vignettes humanize public health issues and make them resonate for readers. Short histories put current issues into historical context, for example, the opioid epidemic (Ch. 5) and alcohol and tobacco use (Ch.6) Comprehensive and up-to-date data and references are included throughout the text. Navigate eBook acc

"This is a very good text for undergraduate students as it gives a broad overview of the concept of public health, utilising case studies to illustrate practical application. This book would be also be an excellent way for practitioners to increase their own knowledge of public health and could inform their own continuing professional development." Julie Lemprière, University of Gloucestershire Key Concepts in Public Health identifies fifty key concepts used across the discipline of public health in order to give the reader a broad perspective of the core topics relevant to training and practice. From epidemiology to health promotion, and ethics to leadership, the book offers an exciting guide to the multiprofessional field. Each entry features: - a snapshot definition of the concept - a broader discussion addressing the main issues and links to practice - key points relevant to the entry - case studies to illustrate the application to practice - examples of further reading. Highly readable, with clear indexing and cross referencing, this is an ideal book to turn to for learning more about key issues in public health practice and education. The clever structure means the book can be read in its entirety to support a programme of study or readers can use it to dip into and update their knowledge of a particular concept. It meets the validation requirements of all allied health and nursing training programmes and will also be invaluable for policy-makers and healthcare practitioners continuing their professional education.

Public Health: Local and Global Perspectives presents a comprehensive introduction to public health issues and concepts in the Australian and international contexts. It provides students with fundamental knowledge of the public health field, including frameworks, theories, key organisations and contemporary issues. The third edition features a new chapter on the public health workforce and the importance of advocacy in the profession and a thorough update that includes current research and case studies. Discussion of the COVID-19 pandemic and other contemporary public health issues offers students the opportunity to apply theory to familiar examples. Each chapter contextualises key concepts with spotlights and vignettes, reflective questions, tutorial exercises and suggestions for further reading. Written by an expert team of public health professionals, Public Health is an essential resource for public health students.

New to the Third Edition: New or expanded sections covering: Pandemic Flu Response to Hurricane Katrina FDA Regulation of Tobacco Promoting Physical Activity Poisoning (now the #2 cause of injury death) Nonfatal Traumatic Brain Injuries National Children's Study Coal Ash and other unregulated waste from power plants Medical errors Information Technology New information/discussion on: H1N1 swine flu Conflicts of interest in drug trials Problems in planning for the 2010 census Genomic medicine Cell phones/texting while driving National birth defects prevention study The new HPV vaccine controversy Lead paint in toys imported from china Bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates The recent Salmonella outbreak in Peanut Butter Contaminated drug imports from China Managed care efforts to control medical costs Evaluation of Healthy People 2010 and planning for Healthy People 2020 New examples including: Andrew Speaker/Extremely Drug Resistant (XDR) Tuberculosis Football players and increased risk for dementia later in life.

This volume challenges current thinking on post-pandemic public health reform, which assumes that public health systems will naturally be strengthened in light of the shortcomings exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, this volume asks why public health is such an intractable and difficult area for effective public policy initiatives and suggests two kinds of answers. The first is 'because of the very nature of public health', which is difficult to clearly define and conceptualize. The second answer is 'because of the specific contextual features of each discrete healthcare system within which public health is situated.'This comparative analysis examines how the public health systems of eight major jurisdictions are structured, the key public health challenges exposed by the pandemic, and the kinds of political constraints or policy directions informing public health reforms. The analyses interrogate the extent to which public health reform is constrained or facilitated by the larger international context, the key policy tensions or trade-offs in pursuing public health reform, and the way in which public health reforms fit into wider social and political priorities or narratives.

‘The growth of public health courses aimed at undergraduates has created a new need for textbooks that are appropriate and stimulating. Miranda Thurston has succeeded in producing something which strikes the right note. It is wide ranging in scope without being superficial and is accessible to the young learner. It is a sort of 'Wiki'. Just what the aspiring public health practitioner ordered.’ – Professor John R. Ashton C.B.E., President of the UK Faculty of Public Health. Key Themes in Public Health comprises a series of introductory essays exploring key themes and concepts in public health. Ranging from political and economic concern with improving population health and reducing health inequalities, to debates about how to protect populations from new health threats, as well as a concern with individual responsibility for lifestyles and behaviour, the themes discussed include: determinants of health, globalisation, evidence, climate change, ethics, development, poverty, risk and population. Presenting provocative ways of thinking about key ideas in a concise fashion, each essay provides a basic grounding in the relevant theme as well as a departure point for further study by: Defining the theme in an accessible way Placing each idea in its particular social, political, economic and historical context Illustrating its application and significance for public health Identifying and exploring issues surrounding each of the themes This text provides an accessible overview for students new to public health who want to get to grips with the full range and complexity of this diverse and multidisciplinary field.

Public health officials are constantly dispensing important health information to the masses through various media outlets. This comprehensive, practical new book teaches important skills and techniques to communicate public health issues effectively, including: health communication in emergency preparedness; the importance of social marketing techniques; public-private partnerships; building direct links between communication and health service delivery by way of pragmatic strategies; maximizing information reach through interdisciplinary planning; and much more.