Public Health: Science, Politics, and Prevention

Vocabulary flashcards covering core terms, concepts, and functions from Chapter 1 of Schneider's Introduction to Public Health.

Health Outcome Disparities

Particular types of health differences that are closely linked to economic, social, and environmental disadvantages.

Public Health (Winslow's Definition)

Defined in $1920$ as the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting physical health and efficiency through organized community efforts.

Public Health (IOM Mission)

The fulfillment of society's interest in assuring the conditions in which people can be healthy.

Assessment

A core function of public health that entails gathering, organizing, analyzing, and disseminating information concerning population health status and community needs.

Policy Development

A core function of public health that employs scientific knowledge to devise strategic approaches, policies, and laws to enhance community well-being.

Assurance

A core function of public health that ensures essential services vital for safeguarding community health are available and accessible to all.

Ten Essential Public Health Services

A framework that translates the $3$ core functions of public health into a concrete set of $10$ operational activities centered on equity.

Mainstream Medicine

The clinical medical model centered on treating individual patients and addressing existing individual illnesses.

Epidemiology

The basic science of public health that studies disease outbreaks and patterns in human populations to identify common exposures and causative factors.

Statistics

The public health science of collecting and analyzing quantitative health data to diagnose population health, calculate risks, and evaluate interventions.

Biomedical Sciences

The discipline studying how microorganisms, biological agents, and human genetics cause and influence disease spread and prevention.

Environmental Health Science

A branch of public health concerned with preventing the spread of disease through environmental vectors such as water, air, and food.

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Disciplines analyzing how individual behaviors, social environments, and structural factors contribute to health outcomes and health disparities.

Health Policy and Management

An area of public health study (also called health administration) that evaluates the effectiveness, efficiency, equity, and administration of medical care systems.

Primary Prevention

Measures aimed at preventing an illness or injury from occurring at all by preventing exposure to risk factors.

Secondary Prevention

Measures aimed at minimizing the severity of an illness or the damage from an injury-causing event once it has occurred.

Tertiary Prevention

Measures aimed at reducing long-term disability by providing medical care and rehabilitation services following an illness or injury.

Epidemiological Triad

A model describing the chain of causation for an illness or injury, consisting of an agent, a host, and the environment.

Life Expectancy

Infectious diseases