Public Health in a Nutshell

Have you ever wondered how the United States achieved its workers’ safety laws? Or how we developed a process for tracking the spread of viral infections? Public health is a major reason why.

Public health aims to protect and improve health at the societal level, and its purpose is to improve the quality of life for all people and all communities. It helps prevent negative outcomes, such as car crashes, drownings, and the development of certain diseases and illnesses. In the event that a negative outcome happens, public health helps reduce further harm. Because negative outcomes can happen anywhere, public health is everywhere.

Public health is broad since it's involved across different parts of our lives, but it is made up of five distinct subject areas:

• Health Policy Management

• Epidemiology (the study of the spread of diseases/conditions)

• Environmental Health

• Biostatisitcs

• Health Behavior and Health Promotion

From our local communities to our states and at the federal level, there are many decisions that impact the quality of our public health infrastructure. Politics and public health are interconnected. Health is not merely the absence of disease, but rather, a combination of our physical, mental, and social well-being.