Public Health 101

Health Belief Model

Focuses on individual perceptions of susceptibility, severity, benefits, and barriers, and cues to action for behavior change. Perceived susceptibility → perceived severity →perceived benefits → perceived barriers → self-efficacy → cues to action.

Social cognitive theory

Explores interactions between personal, behavioral, and environmental influences on health behaviors. Behavior, environment, personal → outcomes

Transtheoretical Model

Describes behavior change as a process with stages from precontemplation to maintenance. pre-contemplation→ contemplation →preparation → action → maintenance

biopsychosocial model

Encompasses the relationship between social, biological and psychological factors that account for overall physical and mental wellbeing. biological + social+psychological → mental health

Social Ecological model

Considers the influence of multiple levels of determinants on health behavior. Individual → interpersonal → organizational→ community→ policy.

Social determinants of health

Diseases are not randomly distributed; social and environmental factors drive trends. Factors like housing, environment, economic stability, and community context. Inequality exacerbates poor health outcomes (mortality, morbidity, life expectancy). Access to healthcare is not a SDoH.

Whitehall Studies

1. 1967-77 prospective cohort studies of British civil servants with diverse levels of job-related stress related to very different social classes. Determined higher stress in a lower class and higher stress meant higher mortality rates (inverse relationship).

2. women experienced greater morbidity than men. high status men correlated with an increase of the likelihood of marriage, opposite true for women.

Increased socioeconomic status leads to improved health outcomes

ACEs study

Done by kaiser permanente and is one of the largest investigations of childhood abuse and neglect, household challenges, and later-life health and well-being. 3 groups: abuse, neglect, and household challenges and each group can be divided up further. The more ACEs you have the more health problems you are likely to have. Also, you’re more likely to die earlier.

Stages of prevention

Primary: actions taken to prevent a condition or disease BEFORE it occurs

secondary: early detection and prompt intervention to halt progression, reduce the impact of a disease or injury that has already occurred.

tertiary: managing and treating established conditions to improve quality of life and prevent complications, often the impact of an ongoing illness or injury that has lasting effects.

core functions of public health

Assessment: Understand health patterns and disparities

Policy development: Collaborate with communities to create inclusive health policies.

Assurance: ensure equitable access to care and evaluate health outcomes.

Equity is at the core.

difference between inequity and inequality

inequity: unfair and avoidable differences caused by systemic barriers

inequality: Unequal distribution of resources or outcomes among different groups.

Disparity: measurable differences win outcomes between groups

types of public health studies

cross-sectional: surveys a population at one point in time

cohort/longitudinal: follows participants over time to track health outcomes related to risk factors.

case-control: compares individuals with a disease to those without to identify risk factors

Environmental health

The branch of public health that focuses on how the natural and built environments impacts human health.

key aspects: air and water quality, exposure to hazardous waste and chemicals, climate change and its health effects, safe housing and sanitation/access to clean resources.

community engagement

An approach to fostering genuine partnerships between academic institutions and communities. Emphasizes power-sharing in decision-making processes.

who is responsible for public health

Federal (grants to states), state and county (implementation and local decision-making), Towns and NGOs (community-level interventions), communities (often intersectional, defined by geography, social identity, faith, or health conditions)

Environmental Justice

the fair treatment of all people, regardless of race, color, national origin, income, tribal affiliation, or disability, in the development, implementation and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations and policies.