Vision for Public Health Practice in the Twenty-First Century: Target Improvement Areas

Abstract

The vision presented here is a multifaceted one in that education, research, and implementation of public health knowledge and skills is an evolutionary process. At the turn of the twentieth century, could public health practitioners have predicted the great public health achievements we enjoy today? What will be the great public health achievements of the twenty-first century? This chapter highlights four key areas for which I propose public health educators and practitioners need to focus their effort and resources: public health services and systems research, interprofessional education, health impact assessment, and the integration of the public health and health-care systems. These are topic areas that are each worthy of whole texts devoted to their definition, utility, measurable outcomes, and potential implications on population health. My intent here is to offer an introduction to these relatively new areas for public health education and practice. Considered together, these public health areas integrate research, assessment, multidisciplinary collaboration, and a joining of systems to fulfill the public health mission. These are the “tools” of the twenty-first-century public health educator and practitioner. As we embark on a new era of health care in the USA, public health is an essential component, yet many health-care administrators and providers are unclear as to how to manage the health of their patient populations. I propose that public health and health-care professionals look to the “tools” presented herein as a vision or guide as they assess the efficiency and effectiveness of health-care delivery, evaluate accountability, while striving to improve quality of care, reduce costs, and ultimately contribute to healthy populations living in healthy communities.