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Introduction
The Future of Public Health set forth a vision for the public's health and the
specific role for the governmental public health agency in that vision, including the
mission and substance of public health and an organizational framework. In this
perspective, the public's health is a societal priority and goal, to be achieved by
governmental public health agencies and other public and private entities in the
community. Public health is also a perspective and a profession, both of which
focus on improving the health of the public.
Specifically, The Future of Public Health stated that the mission of public
health agencies is "fulfilling society's interest in assuring conditions in which
people can be healthy. Its aim is to generate organized community effort to
address the public interest in health by applying scientific and technical knowledge
to prevent disease and promote health. The mission of public health is addressed
by private organizations and individuals as well as by public agencies. But the
governmental public health agency has a unique function: to see to it that vital
elements are in place and that the mission is adequately addressed." The Future of
Public Health, expressed the basic governmental responsibility for the people's
health as assuring a substantive core of activities, assuring adequacy of means and
methods, establishing objectives, and providing guarantees in an ideal health
system, the substance of basic services will entail adequate personal health care for
all members of the community, education of the community-at-large, the control
of communicable disease, and the control of environmental hazards biological,
chemical, social, and physical (IOM, 19881.
7
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8
HEALTHY COMMUNITIES
The report defined the three core functions of public health as:
1. Assessment "Every public health agency [should] regularly and
systematically collect, assemble, analyze, and make available information on the
health of the community, including statistics on health status, community health
needs, and epidemiologic and other studies of health problems. Not every agency
is large enough to conduct these activities directly; intergovernmental and
interagency cooperation is essential. Nevertheless each agency bears the
responsibility for seeing that the assessment function is fulfilled. This basic
function of public health cannot be delegated."
2. Policy development "Every public health agency [should] exercise its
responsibility to serve the public interest in the development of comprehensive
public health policies by promoting use of the scientific knowledge base in
decision-making about public health and by leading in developing public health
policy. Agencies must take a strategic approach, developed on the basis of a
positive appreciation for the democratic political process."
3. Assuranc~"Public health agencies [should] assure their constituents that
services necessary to achieve agreed upon goals are provided, by either
encouraging actions by other entities (private or public sector), by requiring such
action through regulation, or by providing services directly.... Public health
agencties should] involve key policymakers and the general public in determining
a set of high-priority personal and communi~wide health services that
governments will guarantee to every member of the community. This guarantee
should include subsidization or direct provision of high-priority personal health
services for those unable to afford them" (IOM, 1988~.
In We eight years since this report was released, there has been a significant
strengthening of practice in governmental public health agencies and other
settings. Substantial social, demographic, and technological changes in recent
years (Brownson and Kreuter, In press), however, have made it necessary to
reexamine governmental public health agencies' efforts to improve the public's
health.
Building upon the concepts of assessment, assurance, and policy development
contained In The Future of Public Health, a group of leading public heal
organizations (Public Heals Functions Steering Committee, 1994~) adopted a
' Members of the Public Health Functions Steering Committee include: American
Public Health Association; Association of State and Territorial Health Officials; National
Association of County and City Health Officials; Institute of Medicine, National
Academy of Sciences; Association of Schools of Public Health; Public Health
Foundation; National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors; and the
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INTRODUCTION
9
vision of public health as "healthy people in healthy communities," six public
health goals, and ten essential public health services. The six public health goals
are to: (1) prevent epidemics and the spread of disease, (2) protect against
environmental hazards, (3) prevent injuries, (4) promote and encourage healthy
behaviors, (5) respond to disasters and assist communities In recovery, and (6)
assure the quality and accessibility of health services.
The ten essential public health services are to:
1. monitor health status to identify community health problems;
2. diagnose and investigate health problems and health hazards in the
community;
3. inform, educate, and empower people about health issues;
4. mobilize community partnerships to identify and solve health problems;
5. develop policies and plans that support individual and community health
efforts;
6. enforce laws and regulations that protect health and ensure safety;
7. link people to needed personal health services and ensure the provision of
health care when it is otherwise unavailable;
8. ensure He availability of a competent public heal and personal health
care workforce;
9. evaluate effectiveness, accessibility, and quality of personal and
population-based heal services; and
10. research new insights and innovative solutions to heal problems.
These essential public heal services were used to describe public heal more
readily to external audiences and constituencies and played art important role In
defining public heal during He 1993-1994 health care reform debate (Turnock
end Handier, 1995~.
FACTORS AFFECTING PUBLIC HEALTH
We live In a complexly, interconnected global society In which Here are
many Greats to, and opportunities to improve, He public's heals. In recent years,
we have witnessed He emergence or reemergence of infectious diseases such as
hanta virus, cryptosporidiosis, Escherichia cold 0157, and Ebola virus (Gordon et
U.S. Public Health Service (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Health
Resources and Services Administration, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health,
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Agency for Health Care
Policy and Research, Indian Health Services, and Food and Drug Administration).
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10
HEALTHY COMMUNITIES
al., 1996~. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, tuberculosis made a comeback in
cities across the United States, with many drug-resistant cases arising (OTA, 1993,
Gittler, 1994), and outbreaks of childhood diseases such as measles and mumps
appeared among poor inner city children (Atkinson et al., 1992; Kelley et al.,
1993; Vivier et al., 19943. The number of human immunodeficiency virus/
acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) cases has surpassed 500,000
in the United States, and among persons aged 25~4 years, HIV infection is the
leading cause of dead in men and the third-leading cause in women (CDC,
1995a).
Despite these outbreaks, which remain important, the 20th century has seen a
shift in the major causes of death from infectious to chronic diseases, and
behavioral risk factors have increased in importance. Behavior-related factors
such as use of tobacco, alcohol, illicit drugs, firearms, and motor vehicles, as well
as diet, activity patterns, and sexual behavior, are responsible for nearly half of the
deaths in the United States and substantial amounts of disability (McGinnis and
Foege, 1993~. Reflecting these realities, behavior and lifestyle interventions are
highlighted, for instance, in Healthy People 2000: National Health Promotion
and Disease Prevention Objectives (DEWS, 1991), with attention paid not only to
the behaviors themselves but also to lifestyle more generally and to the context and
social circumstances that influence individual behavior.
Consistent with the development of these trends, public health professionals
have come to realize that health is a dynamic state that is influenced by many
internal and external process, and that embraces well-being-physical, mental, and
emotional health. For both individuals and populations, health improvement
depends not only on medical care but also on other factors including individual
behavior, genetic makeup, and social and economic conditions for individuals and
communities. The Field Model, as described by Evans and Stoddart (1994),
presents these multiple determinants of health in a dynamic relationship. A wide
range of actors, many of whose roles are not within the traditional domain of
health activities, have an effect on and a stake in a community's health (Patrick
and Wickizer, 1995~. The Field Model suggests a variety of public and private
entities in the community that, through their actions, could influence the
community's health. As communities try to address their health issues in a
comprehensive manner, everyone involved will need to sort out their roles and
responsibilities. They also should participate in the process of "community-wide
social change" that is needed to improve health (Green and Kreuter, 1990~.
As the public health community was coming to appreciate these ideas about
the root determinants of health, other concerns about the high and rising costs of
health care, the lack of geographical and economic access to health services for
many, and questions about the quality and timeliness of the care provided led to
many governmental and private attempts to alter the organization, delivery, and
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INTRODUCTION
11
funding of health care. Foremost among these attempts in the past decade has
been the growth in organized health care delivery systems, including managed
care, and the size of the organizations that deliver it (Gabel et al., 1994; Robinson,
1996~. However, the implications of these changes in the mode of service delivery
and funding for public health agencies are uncertain. Has access for disadvantaged
populations improved or worsened? Can public health agencies delegate or
contract their clinical health promotion and disease prevention and control
programs to emerging health care organizations? If they can, can the quality and
effectiveness of such programs be assured? Is ensuring adequate clinical health
care for all an important public health priority?
As the health system has changed, so too has the political landscape. Although
Americans have been skeptical of government since the founding of this country,
in recent years there has been a growing mistrust of government, government
institutions, and politics (Dionne, 1991; La Porte and Metlay, 1996; Washington
Post, 1996~. Although distrust of government has received considerable attention,
trust in other institutions such as the press, religious institutions, barking, and
business has also been challenged. Related to this lack of confidence in
government, or perhaps in response to it, is a decided shift in responsibility from
the federal government to state and local levels. Furthermore, there has been a
growing movement to "reinvent government," including making it more
decentralized, responsive to clients or "customers," community-oriented, and
entrepreneurial by employing performance monitoring and outcomes standards
(Osborne and Gaebler, 1992~. In many communities, public health functions
previously performed directly by government employees are being carried out by
employees of private organizations. As a result, the opportunities for public-
private partnerships are greater than ever before.
SUMMARY AND ORGANIZATION OF THIS REPORT
In summary, the discussions initiated by the Committee on Public Heal have
suggested that three key forces shaping public health are (1) the rise of organized
health care delivery systems, including managed care; (2) the changing role and
public expectations of government; and (3) the increasing involvement and
mobilization of communities in matters pertaining to their own health. Drawing
on the committee's activities and discussions, this report addresses two critical
public health issues in the United States as it enters a new century the
relationship between public health and managed care, and the role of the public
health agency in the community and their implications for the broader
infrastructure and capacity issues raised in The Future of Public Health.
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12
HEALTHY COMMUNITIES
The committee's analysis, presented in this report, reaffirmed the
understanding of public health professionals and health scientists that the public's
health depends on the interaction of many factors; thus, the health of a
community is a shared responsibility of many entities, organizations, and
interests in the community, including health service delivery organizations,
public health agencies, other public and private entities, and the people of a
community. Within this context of shared responsibility, specific entities
should identify, and be held accountable for, the actions they can take to
contribute toward the community's health. As a result of this understanding,
the committee focused its report on how governmental public health agencies,
especially at the state and local levels, can develop partnerships with managed care
organizations to deliver personal and population-based health services and with
public and private community organizations to deal with broader concerns to
advance the health of the community. Developing these partnerships, the
committee believes, will be critical for advancing the health of the public and of
communities in the future.
Representative terms from entire chapter:
public heal
