Public Health exam 1

what is the goal of the public health system?

protect the health and safety of the population

What led to the field of public health?

early epidemics were becoming frequent and it needed interventions

What is the miasma theory?

the theory that plagues resulted from toxic air in the environment

What is the National Board of Health (NCH)?

it was created by congress in 1879 as an act to prevent the introduction of infectious and contagious disease in the U.S.

What happened during the progressive expansion era?

public health was professionalized and health departments began controlling infectious disease and sanitation

How does the World Health Organization (WHO) define “health,” and how is this

definition broader than simply the absence of disease?

health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. it is broader than the absence of disease because many people can live a long happy healthy life with a chronic illness.

what are the three core functions of public health?

assessment, policy development, assurance

explain the core function of public health: assessment

monitoring the population to understand what is happening and who is affected (example: looking at the amount of measles cases in the U.S.)

explain the core function of public health: policy development

communicating the inform the public of what is occurring and implementing laws/policies to protect against illness (ex: social distancing/masking during covid)

explain the core function of public health: assurance

making sure health services are equitable and accessible to the population (ex: flu shot clinics)

Identify one major development in the history of the public health system and

explain why it was important.

germ theory - suggested that we could control infection disease by sanitary environments, clean water and immunizations. it led to decrease in the amount of cholera cases as it was caused by contaminsted water

What is meant by the term social determinants of health? Provide one example

relevant to vaccine access in the U.S.

social determinants of health are the non-medical factors that impact an individuals health. for example if an individual live in a neighborhood that is secluded and does not have access to a health care facility they may not be able to easily access a clinic to recieve a vaccine.

Compare and contrast the Social Ecological Model (SEM) differ from the Social

Determinants of Health framework in explaining health outcomes?

Social ecological model focuses on what level influences operate (societal, community, relationship, individual) where as social determinants of health focus on the circumstances which people are born into that are shaped by access and resources.

Imagine a public health campaign addressing the opioid crisis. Which level(s) of the

Social Ecological Model would be most important, and why?

All levels of the SEM are important for the opiod crisis. However the societal and community levels will be most important to address the most amount of people

epidemic

occurs when a specific location has an increasing number in cases of a specific disease over a period of time that is higher than expected (ex: black death, opiod abuse gun violence)

endemic

is a disease that is constantly present at a baseline level within a population with the cases staying at a predictable and steady rate (seasonal flu)

pandemic

a disease or illness that spreads globally infecting large amounts of people all over the world (ex:COVID-19)

Who was John Snow, and how did his work on cholera shape modern epidemiology?

John snow investigated the cause and spread of cholera in 19th century London. He challenged the idea that miasma was responsible for the cholera outbreak. He looked at specific neighborhoods in london and where the household got their water from and also investigated who was contracted cholera. He shaped modern epidemiology by investigating measuring disease within a community.

Explain the importance of valid data to the public health system.

it is important to have valid measurable data so that trends can be identified to identify or track a disease. inaccurate data could lead to wrong diagnoses or uncontrolled outbreaks. health outcomes can be miscalculated

Explain why randomized controlled trials are considered stronger evidence than

case reports in epidemiology

randomized control trials are considered stronger because they can account for variables that may create a bias in the data. case reports don’t have a control group to compare to.

Define relative risk

relative risk compares the health outcomes of two groups one group being exposed, and one group being unexposed and dividing that by the incidence or prevalence

Define odds ratio

a measure that defines the odds of and event occurring or not occurring between two groups

In what types of studies is relative risk measure typically used?

cohort studies

In what types of studies is odds ratio measure typically used?

case-control studies

If a study shows a relative risk of 3.0 for smoking and lung cancer, what does that

mean in plain language?

if the relative risk for smoking and lung cancer is 3.0 it indicates there is an increased risk for developing lung cancer if you are a smoker

Describe the value of public health’s emphasis on prevention.

prevention stops or lowers the development diseases in the population and lowering the cost of healthcare

Define bias in epidemiological research and provide one example.

bias in epidemiological research is any errors in data that could skew the results. one example is any self-reported data in an experiment is subjected to bias because we can not ensure participants are accurately reporting their data.

What is confounding, and how can it affect study results?

a confounding variable is something that connects the independent and dependent variable. however it may not have any effect on the two. for example the amount of chocolate consumption in each country and the amount of noble prizes won

Explain the difference between random error and systematic error (bias) in public

health research.

random error occurs when unpredictable factors sway the data where as systematic error is something that results in error due to study design or data collection

How might lack of access to vaccines be explained using the SDOH model? Identify

at least two social determinants.

One social determinant that might result in the lack of access to vaccines can be defined by lack of healthcare coverage. An individual without healthcare coverage may not have access to a healthcare facility to recieve a vaccine. Furthermore, if an individual lives in an environment without access to transportation they may struggle to get to a facility to receive the vaccine.

During the COVID-19 pandemic and now the measles resurgence, the term

endemic began to be used in media. What does it mean for a disease like COVID-19

or measles to become endemic?

For these diseases to become an endemic means theses disease will always be present throughout a population at a predictable rate.

The U.S. public health workforce has experienced major changes recently. Identify

two challenges this creates for responding to health crises like opioid overdoses or

emerging infections.

As of January 2026, the U.S. officially notified WHO of withdrawal. This can create challenges in receiving appropriate statistics regarding health crisis affecting the population. Furthermore, Health and human services has had some structural changes that may make it difficult to advance in public health.