Crash Course Public Health - Lecture Notes

Introduction to Health

Self-Centric View of Health: Health is often viewed as an individual's responsibility (eating, exercising, resting).
Personal Health vs. Public Health: Individual health journeys are part of a larger story involving public health.
Definition of Health:
- Originates from the Old English word "hale" (wholeness).
- Historically significant figures like Hippocrates contributed to health concepts.

World Health Organization (1946): Defined health as complete physical, mental, and social well-being.
Modern Perspectives:
- Health seen as a capacity or reserve that varies among individuals.
- Importance of restoring health when depleted (sickness or injury).

Definition:
- Promotes and protects community health where people live, learn, work, and play.
- Focuses on preventing disease and promoting health rather than treating individual patients.
Cliff Analogy: Dr. Kamara Jones' analogy highlights the importance of prevention (fences and trampolines vs ambulances).

Diverse Roles: Include restaurant inspectors, policymakers, and disease researchers.
Population Health: Focus on patterns and distributions of health issues in populations (e.g., lung cancer).
- Example: Addressing smoking rates to prevent lung cancer rather than only treating it.
Health Outcomes & Inequities:
- Health outcomes: Changes in health status due to various factors.
- Health inequities arise from social or economic conditions affecting different populations.

Public Health Mission: Core goal to address disparities in health outcomes among different groups.
Community Case Study (Vanessa City):
- Observed high heart disease rates in a low-income neighborhood.
- Short-term Solutions: Open food access sites with healthy options and free transportation.
- Long-term Solutions: Tax incentives for grocery stores and promoting community gardening.

Cost-Effectiveness: Prevention is generally cheaper than treatment.
- Example: Vaccination saves significantly on medical expenses.
Investment Needs: Public health often underfunded, especially in non-crisis times (0.5% of healthcare budget in the US on disease prevention).

Public Health's Importance: Recognizes inevitability of disease but also addresses root causes like poverty and injustice.
Call to Action: Everyone plays a role in public health; investing in solutions can yield significant benefits.