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What is the historical development of Public Health?
The history of public health is a story of the search for effective means of securing health and preventing disease in the population. Epidemic and endemic infectious disease stimulated thought and innovation in disease prevention on a pragmatic basis, often before the causation was established scientifically.
What year did public health start?
public health was defined by the american public health leader, charles-edward a. winslow, in 1920 as, "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting physical health and efficiency through organized community efforts for the sanitation of the environment, the control of community infections, the education of the …
How did public health begin?
HISTORY OF PUBLIC HEALTH. Public health was defined by the American public health leader, Charles-Edward A. Winslow, in 1920 as, "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting physical health and efficiency through organized community efforts for the sanitation of the environment, the control of community infections, the education of the individual in principles of ...
When did public health begin?
The first American voluntary hospitals were established in Philadelphia in 1752 and in New York in 1771. The first public mental hospital was established in Williamsburg, Virginia in 1773. (Turner, 1977) The Nineteenth Century: The Great Sanitary Awakening The nineteenth century marked a great advance in public health.
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What is the history of the public health system about?
The history of public health is a story of the search for effective means of securing health and preventing disease in the population. Epidemic and endemic infectious disease stimulated thought and innovation in disease prevention on a pragmatic basis, often before the causation was established scientifically.
Why is the history of public health important?
An understanding of the rich and diverse history of public health cannot only support contemporary innovation but can help reduce the risk of public health practice being too narrowly focused on specific influences on the health of individuals rather than maintaining an overview of the full range of factors at work ...
When did public health start?
The 1700s. 1798 Congress passes the Act for the Relief of Sick and Disabled Seamen and authorizes formation of the US Marine Hospital Service (MHS), which was the forerunner of the Public Health Service.
Who founded public health?
1872: The American Public Health Association founded by Dr. Stephen Smith, a physician, attorney and commissioner of New York City's Metropolitan Health Board, puts forth the concept of a national health service. 1893: APHA and the United States focus on the control of tuberculosis.
What is introduction to public health?
Public health is “the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private communities, and individuals.” — CEA Winslow. These materials introduce public health core functions and essential services.
What is the concept of public health?
Public health refers to all organised measures (whether public or private) to prevent disease, promote health, and prolong life among the population as a whole.
Who defined public health?
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “Public health refers to all organized measures (whether public or private) to prevent disease, promote health, and prolong life among the population as a whole.
Which disease is known as father of public health?
John Snow - Father of Epidemiology. The Sanitary Idea (1850-1875) Public Health in the United States.
What are the 3 core functions of public health?
This page and graphic show how the ten essential environmental health services align with the three core functions of public health (assessment, policy development, and assurance).
Where was public health invented?
Similarly, in New York, John Griscom published The Sanitary Condition of the Labouring Population of New York in 1848. This report eventually led to the establishment of the first public agency for health, the New York City Health Department, in 1866.
Why did public health improved in the 19th century?
These included the provision of clean water, proper drainage and sewage systems and the appointment of a Medical Officer of Health in every area. During the 1870s, in fact, a series of new laws led to improvements in public health and hygiene.
What are two historical events that helped shape modern public health?
In the United States in 1920-1940 there were continued efforts at social reform. There war also two prevailing forces shaping health and human services--the World War I and the Great Depression.
What is the history and evolution of public health nursing?
Nursing, History, and Health Care 1890Lillian Wald, founder of the Henry Street Settlement (1893) in New York City, invented the term public health nursing to put emphasis on the community value of the nurse whose work was built upon an understanding of all the problems that invariably accompanied the ills of the poor.
What is the most important aspect of public health system?
The public health practice promotes the detection, management, and prevention of various diseases through research and innovation. The professionals with public health certification help improve the lifestyle and health-related behaviors of individuals.
Who defined public health?
Public health was defined by the American public health leader, Charles-Edward A. Winslow, in 1920 as, “the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting physical health and efficiency through organized community efforts for the sanitation of the environment, the control of community infections, the education of the individual in principles of personal hygiene, the organization of medical and nursing service for the early diagnosis and preventive treatment of disease, and the development of the social machinery which will ensure to every individual in the community a standard of living adequate for the maintenance of health.” Although a modern nosologist would add mental to physical aspects of health, Winslow’s definition has not been superseded. It provided the basis for the World Health Organization’s definition of health: “A state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (1948).
Who wrote the untilled fields of public health?
Winslow, C.-E. A. (1920). “The Untilled Fields of Public Health.” Science 51:23.
What was the most important disease of the medieval period?
The most important disease of the period was leprosy, manifested by a continent-wide epidemic beginning in the sixth century and lasting through the fifteenth. Lepers were excluded from communities and segregated. Elaborate rules and regulations were set up to diagnose the disease and isolate cases. Leper houses (leprosaria) were established, and it is estimated that by the end of the twelfth century there were 19,000 such houses throughout Europe. Isolation of cases of leprosy in medieval times represents the earliest application of a public health practice still in use.
How did voluntary health agencies evolve?
Voluntary health agencies evolved in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in Europe and North America, growing out of the failure of public health organizations to fully apply knowledge created by the new biomedical sciences, and by the continuing deplorable condition of the urban poor. Organizations like the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Tuberculosis (which evolved into the American Lung Association) took on the task of public education, case counseling, financial aid, and advocacy for relevant legislative action, while organizations like the Henry Street Settlement in New York City and Hull House in Chicago provided social and medical services in slum neighborhoods. By the mid–twentieth century there were more than 20,000 voluntary health agencies in the United States alone.
What are the elements of Winslow's concept of public health?
Elements of Winslow’s concept of public health can be found in the earliest evidence of communal living. Paleopathology, the study of fossils and other artifacts, reveals that early Homo sapiens, who were hunter-gatherers, suffered from essentially the same diseases that afflict people today.
When was microbiology invented?
Public Health and Bacteriology. With the discoveries of pathogenic bacteria by Louis Pasteur in France and Robert Koch in Germany in the late 1870s and early 1880s, the science of microbiology was born.
Where was the first medical school in Europe?
The establishment, in Salerno, Italy, of the first organized medical school was indicative of the changes occurring in Western Europe.
When did the public health system start?
Maz ck provides a comprehensive history of the origins of public health in the United States from 1870 to 1920. The beginning reflects the advent of a uniformed professional service employing individuals based on their training, credentials, and examinations.
When was the Public Health Service founded?
Plagues and politics: The story of the United States Public Health Service. New York: Basic Books. This book provides a comprehensive history of public health from its founding in 1799 to 1989. The author notes that the Public Health Service (PHS) has become the primary health agency of the federal government.
How many deaths from HIV/AIDS in 2010?
Finally, as of 2010, HIV/AIDS has caused more than 40 million deaths. With the exception of HIV/AIDS, vaccines have been developed for these diseases. The smallpox vaccine provided the means for eradication, whereas influenza mutates so readily that the vaccine must be frequently revised.
What are the three diseases that have been known since antiquity?
These include smallpox, influenza, tuberculosis (TB), and HIV/AIDS. The first three diseases have been known since antiquity; HIV/AIDS is a more recent problem. Smallpox is noteworthy for its mortality rate and because it is the only disease that has been eradicated.
Why is public health focusing on heart disease?
Public health researchers are focusing on heart disease and type 2 diabetes in response to contemporary epidemics. Efforts to understand and cure diseases have had the unintended consequences of developing tools. The science of epidemiology emerged from efforts to stop cholera in England.
When was the first edition of Public Health published?
It traces the history of public health by focusing on epidemiology, disease surveillance, and disease eradication. The book was originally published in 1953.
When was Rosen 1993 published?
The history of public health in Rosen 1993 is comprehensive through its original publication date (1953); the expanded edition features a new introduction by Elizabeth Fee. Porter 1999 provides a much longer historical time frame that is international in scope.
When was the first marine hospital built?
The first permanent marine hospital was authorized to be built in Boston, MA in 1803. In 1870 a bill was passed to centralized and reorganize the Marine Hospital Service, with its headquarters in Washington DC under the position of supervising surgeon. The act also raised the hospital tax from twenty cents to forty cents until 1884.
Who was the first president to change the name of the Marine Hospital?
In January 4, 1889 President Grover Cleveland signed an Act to regulate appointments in the Marine Hospital Service of the United States. This Act specified that medical officers of the Marine Hospital Service would thereafter be appointed by the President with advice and consent of the senate after passing a satisfactory examination. Congress organized corps officers along military lines with titles and pay corresponding to Navy and Army grades. Surgeon General John Hamilton campaigned for the name of the Marine Hospital to be change to Public Health Service. It would be several years later after his death that the name change would occur.
What was the role of the PHS in the Second World War?
With the approach of the second world war, the programs of the PHS began to emphasize on military preparedness. In 1941 when the U.S Coast Guard was militarized, the PHS went to war as well. From 1941 – 1945, 663 medical, dental, engineer and nurse officer served with the Coast Guard, many sustaining injuries and four of them losing their lives. The war had an enormous impact on the PHS. Not only did the war require expansion of its programs and personnel, but the PHS Act of 1944.
How did the PHS Act impact the war?
The war had an enormous impact on the PHS. Not only did the war require expansion of its programs and personnel, but the PHS Act of 1944. The PHS Act of 1944 broadened the scope of the Commissioned Corps, allowing the commissioning of nurses, scientists, dieticians, physical therapists, sanitarians and veterinarians.
What was the role of the Marine Hospital Service?
The Public Health and Marine Hospital Service officers played a major role in fulfilling the commitment to prevent disease from entering the country. In August 1912, congress passed a law that finally change the name of the service to the Public Health Service (PHS).
What is the USPHS?
The history of the U.S public Health Service provide great overview why officers of the U.S Public Health Service (USPHS) wear uniform, bear military ranking and considered one of the nation’s seven uniform services.
When did the Marine Hospital Service expand?
In 1902 the Marine Hospital Service expanded to the Public Health and Marine Hospital Service to reflect growing responsibilities. Officers continued to carry out quarantine duties, which included the medical inspection of arriving immigrants, such as those landing at Ellis Island in New York.
What is Public Health?
Winslow defined public health as "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting physical health and efficiency through organized community efforts for the sanitation of the environment, the control of community infections, the education of the individual in principles of personal hygiene, the organization of medical and nursing service for the early diagnosis and preventive treatment of disease, and the development of the social machinery which will ensure to every individual in the community a standard of living adequate for the maintenance of health." While most would include mental health as an important aspect of public health today, Winslow's definition is still relevant.
What were the factors that led to the development of public health?
First, there was the notion of the importance of the monarchy and the power of the state. The influence and power of the state could be assessed in many ways including commerce and trade, but also by the size of the population and the health and fitness of the working population.
What was the main threat to health in the 1800s?
Cholera is an infectious disease that became a major threat to health during the 1800s. The story has been elegantly told in The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson, who describes the conditions in London in the 1800s situation in the brief video below.
What did the Corpus look for in the study of disease?
The Corpus looked at disease as an imbalance in natural forces or an imbalance in humours (or fluids): melancholy, phlegm, bile, and blood. Health depended on a proper balance of these humours. While crude, this concept of humours provided some sort of rationale for understanding health and disease.
Why was the Marine Hospital Service renamed the Public Health and Marine Hospital Services?
The Marine Hospital Service was renamed the Public Health and Marine Hospital Services (PHMHS) to reflect its broader scope.
When was quarantine used?
The use of quarantine as a public health measure dates back to the 14th century when the Black Death ravaged Italy and the rest of Europe. Quarantine comes from the Italian quarantena, meaning forty-day period. Travelers and merchandise that had potentially been exposed to disease were isolated for a period of time to ensure that they weren't infected. Some cities and towns would create a "cordon sanitaire,' a physical barrier that could only be crossed with permission. This practice persisted into the late 19th century and early 20th century. When plague threatened San Francisco, the Chinese section was quarantined by encircling it with a rope with armed guards to ensure that unauthorized individuals did not pass through. a "cordon sanitaire" was also used during an outbreak of bubonic plague in 1899-1900 in Honolulu's Chinatown. Fourteen blocks of the city were literally cordoned off, isolation 10,000 people..
When did the Department of Education transfer responsibility for health care to the Department of Education?
1979 HEW's educational tasks were transferred to the new Department of Education and responsibility for health was given to the newly organized Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
When did public health start?
We often think of public health as a new field, however, it actually began to professionalize during the early 1900s. The road was not easy, though. Public health had to define itself as a profession unique from nursing and medicine at a time when those fields were expanding and changing. In order to understand how challenging it was to separate public health from other existing professions, we have to understand that at the start of the 20th century, “public health” meant something different than what it does today. Early public health practice often referred to the health of poor people or those who did not have regular access to medical care. It is under this early definition that public health was generally practiced by physicians and nurses. Today, however, our understanding of public health goes far beyond that, encompassing bioethics, population and family health, the sociology of medicine, epidemiology, and my own subfield of health policy and management.
Who was the first public health nurse?
One of the early pioneers of Public Health Nursing, whose name may be familiar to you if you’ve studied public health, was Lillian D. Wald. Wald was the first president of the National Organization for Public Health Nursing and she pushed for nurses in public schools, sanitation efforts, and education. It’s interesting to think about the populations that she was helping in those days of intense immigration and education boom. I think it is safe to say that many of the challenges she encountered are echoed in today’s public health dialogue. She also helped found Columbia University’s School of Nursing where there’s still a necessary overlap with public health and policy in the curriculum for nursing students. Work like hers reveals an early emphasis on health literacy in the public health community and how environmental factors were seen in relation to health.
What was the era of the country doctor and the visiting nurse?
In the early years of the 20th century, the era of the country doctor and the visiting nurse who practiced public health began to disappear as the medical and nursing professions became more defined. Medical training became more rigorous, and specialization more common in light of the seminal Flexner Report, a book-length study that indicted the education of medical professionals. Nursing became a popular profession, and as hospitals proliferated, so too did the number of nurses. With traditional practitioners increasingly unavailable outside of hospitals, public health, began to distinguish itself with the help of a few key female visionaries from the fields of medicine and nursing who saw a need for a new field of health care.
What is public health?
Public health is the science of protecting and improving the health of people and their communities. This work is achieved by promoting healthy lifestyles, researching disease and injury prevention, and detecting, preventing and responding to infectious diseases.
How does public health work?
Public health professionals try to prevent problems from happening or recurring through implementing educational programs, recommending policies, administering services and conducting research —in contrast to clinical professionals like doctors and nurses, who focus primarily on treating individuals after they become sick or injured. Public health also works to limit health disparities. A large part of public health is promoting health care equity, quality and accessibility.
What is a health outcome?
The result of a medical condition that directly affects the length or quality of a person’s life.
What are health disparities?
Health disparities are preventable differences in the burden of disease, injury, violence or in opportunities to achieve optimal health experienced by socially disadvantaged racial, ethnic and other population groups and communities. Achieving health equity, eliminating disparities and improving the health of all U.S. population groups are all goals of public health.
What is epidemiology?
Epidemiology is the method used to find the causes of health outcomes and diseases in populations. In epidemiology, the patient is the community and individuals are viewed collectively. By definition, epidemiology is the study (scientific, systematic, and data-driven) of the distribution (frequency, pattern) and determinants (causes, risk factors) of health-related states and events (not just diseases) in specified populations (neighborhood, school, city, state, country, global). It is also the application of this study to the control of health problems.
How does the CDC help the nation?
By connecting state and local health departments across the nation, CDC can discover patterns of disease and respond when needed. CDC monitors health, informs decision-makers, and provides people with information so they can take responsibility for their own health.
What is the definition of health care?
The prevention, treatment and management of illness and the preservation of mental and physical well-being through the services offered by medical and allied health professions; also known as health care.

Public Health from The Dawn of History to The Fall of Rome
- Elements of Winslow’s concept of public health can be found in the earliest evidence of communal living. Paleopathology, the study of fossils and other artifacts, reveals that early Homo sapiens, who were hunter-gatherers, suffered from essentially the same diseases that afflict people today. In remote parts of the world—in the Amazon, Indonesia, A...
Public Health During The Dark Ages and The Medieval Period
- During the Dark Ages (about 500–1000 C.E.), Western Europe experienced a period of social and political disintegration. Large cities disappeared, replaced by small villages surrounding the castles of feudal chiefs. The only unifying force was Christianity, and it was in the monasteries that the learning and culture of the Greco-Roman world was preserved. Furthermore, in many of thes…
Public Health During The Renaissance and The Plague Centuries
- It was during the Renaissance, a period of great commercial, scientific, cultural, and political development, that the bubonic plague, or “Black Death,” swept over Europe and the Near East killing an estimated one-fourth to one-third of the population between 1347 and 1351. For the following two-and-a-half centuries, periodic epidemics of plague decimated these populations. T…
Public Health During The Enlightenment and Sanitary Reform
- The Enlightenment (the period from 1750 until the mid–nineteenth century) was characterized by unprecedented industrial, social, and political developments, and the resulting societal impacts were immense, culminating in the Industrial Revolution. It was in Germany that the first major contribution of the period to public health occurred. Between 1779 and 1816, Johann Peter Fran…
Public Health and Bacteriology
- With the discoveries of pathogenic bacteria by Louis Pasteur in France and Robert Koch in Germany in the late 1870s and early 1880s, the science of microbiology was born. Consequent developments in immunology and parasitology provided epidemiologists and other public health workers with the tools to study and understand epidemic phenomena. Sanitation could become …
Colonialism and Public Health
- From the sixteenth through the nineteenth century, European countries had competitively colonized most of the tropical world. The contagious diseases they brought with them frequently ravaged indigenous populations. Conversely, the prevalent diseases of colonized areas threatened the invaders. Colonial sanitation and medical care was originally designed to serve t…
Public Health in The Early Twentieth Century
- Although the Sanitary movement of the nineteenth century and the development of bacteriology substantially lowered death rates from enteric diseases, other serious health problems still existed. One was the appalling and ubiquitous rate of infant mortality. First in Europe, then in Britain and in the United States, maternal and child health programs were initiated with an emph…
Public Health in The Late Twentieth Century
- In the last half of the twentieth century, public health continued to expand its established roles. However, new forces were at work to further broaden its purview. Among these were the aging of the populations in industrialized regions, recognition of the importance of behavioral factors in determining the health of populations, exacerbation of social inequalities in health, increasing vio…