Public Health. an Action Guide to Improving Health

About this Book

• Contains real examples, illustrations and case histories to bring this important subject to life for the reader
• An essential action guide to improving public/community health, with practical methods for assessing health needs, working with communities and developing health services
• Clear language is used throughout the book to describe key public health skills to all readers whether in training or in practice as health officers and mangers of health services and programmes
• Written by experts with many years field experience

New to this edition

• Thoroughly updated for the second edition with new chapters on health policy, implementation, communicable and non communicable disease, quality and patient safety

Many of the health problems in the developing world can be tackled or prevented through public health measures such as essential health care, improved living conditions, water, sanitation, nutrition, immunization, and the adoption of healthy lifestyles. Public Health is an action guide to improving public/community health, with a particular focus on low-middle income countries. It explains public health approaches to developing effective health services and preventive programmes.

This Second Edition contains real examples, illustrations and case histories to bring an important subject to life for the reader. The book covers the essential clinical services and preventive programmes including those for TB, HIV/AIDS, malaria, diarrhoeal diseases and the integrated management of childhood and adult illnesses. Practical methods are given for assessing health needs and working with communities to develop health services, and the development of hospital, health centre, and community health services, particularly mother, neonatal and child health services are explained. Additionally gender, social and economic influences on communities' health are explored.

The clear language that is used throughout the book to describe the key public health skills (such as epidemiology, managing medicines, communicable and non communicable disease control, health financing, and implementing health services and programmes), will be accessible and highly valuable to doctors, community nurses, and other health professionals, whether in training or in practice as health officers and mangers of health services and programmes.

Readership: Health workers in developing countries, including undergraduate medical students, district medical officers, health programme officers; community and public health nurses and environmental health officers.

Table of Contents

1: John Walley: Public Health and the burden of disease
2: John Walley: Public Health interventions
3: John Wright: Epidemiology in practice
4: John Wright: Assessing health needs
5: John Walley: Choosing the best Public Health interventions
6: John Hubley, Sylvia Tilford and John Walley: Planning, implementing and managing interventions
7: Sophie Witter: Understanding and using health economics and financing
8: John Hubley and Sylvia Tilford: Health promotion
9: Andrew Green: Health policy and systems
10: John Walley and Sarah Escott: Developing a district health care service
11: John Walley and Nancy Gerein: Maternal neonatal and child health
12: Kathy Holloway: Essential drugs
13: Martin Schweiger: Communicable disease control principles and toolkit
14: John Walley, Roger Webber and Andrew Collins: Controlling major communicable diseases
15: Kamran Siddiqi: Non-communicable diseases
16: John Wright: Quality control, safety and better practice
17: John Wright and John Walley: Future trends in global public health

Author Information

John Walley, Professor of International Public Health, Nuffield Centre for International Health and Development, Institute of Health Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK, and John Wright, Professor of Clinical Epidemiology, Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Bradford and Professor of Clinical Epidemiology, University of Bradford, UK

Reviews

Review(s) from previous edition

"The authors tackle the daunting field of public health with verve and intelligence... a very practical and readable work... a reliable and realistic introduction to the subject of helping to improve the health of all our communities. - Tropical Doctor