Goldsteen Raymond L., Goldsteen Karen, Dwelle Terry L. Introduction to public health: promises and practices

2nd. ed. — Springer Publishing Company, 2015. — 289 p. — ISBN: 978-0-8261-9666-8.This book describes the public health system in broad strokes in order to focus the reader on basic public health goals, principles, structures, and practices. The context in which public health is practiced today has changed considerably since its historic roots in the Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries. As a result, public health practices are changed and changing still. However, the overarching goal of public health systems remains the same — to ensure through collective action a healthful environment for all. The 21st century offers incredible challenges to public health. The disparity in access to healthy environments is widening, and the threats to health concern the foundations of health, including adequate and nutritious food, clean and sufficient water, and shelter. Moreover, these are global problems that touch every country to some extent and threaten to affect all countries within our lifetimes. In order to meet these challenges, our goals in the coming years will be to embrace how, when, and where to improve the quality and value of public health received by the populations served. There will be more emphasis on unbiased decisions, fully integrated analytical information technology and computational expertise, and a systems orientation toward population health improvement. In addition, we will need to mobilize the public to support the work that must be done in order to provide a safe and healthy environment for all people.