Disease is an ever-present threat faced by all human societies. Today, this concept has become an influential area of study known as the global burden of disease, which encompasses contemporary health concerns such as the economic costs of disease, the societal impact of illness in developing nations, and infectious diseases resulting from lifestyl

The New Public Health has established itself as a solid textbook throughout the world. Translated into 7 languages, this work distinguishes itself from other public health textbooks, which are either highly locally oriented or, if international, lack the specificity of local issues relevant to students' understanding of applied public health in their own setting. This 3e provides a unified approach to public health appropriate for all masters' level students and practitioners—specifically for courses in MPH programs, community health and preventive medicine programs, community health education programs, and community health nursing programs, as well as programs for other medical professionals such as pharmacy, physiotherapy, and other public health courses. - Changes in infectious and chronic disease epidemiology including vaccines, health promotion, human resources for health and health technology - Lessons from H1N1, pandemic threats, disease eradication, nutritional health - Trends of health systems and reforms and consequences of current economic crisis for health - Public health law, ethics, scientific d health technology advances and assessment - Global Health environment, Millennium Development Goals and international NGOs

Human health depends on the health of the planet. Earth’s natural systems—the air, the water, the biodiversity, the climate—are our life support systems. Yet climate change, biodiversity loss, scarcity of land and freshwater, pollution and other threats are degrading these systems. The emerging field of planetary health aims to understand how these changes threaten our health and how to protect ourselves and the rest of the biosphere. Planetary Health: Protecting Nature to Protect Ourselves provides a readable introduction to this new paradigm. With an interdisciplinary approach, the book addresses a wide range of health impacts felt in the Anthropocene, including food and nutrition, infectious disease, non-communicable disease, dislocation and conflict, and mental health. It also presents strategies to combat environmental changes and its ill-effects, such as controlling toxic exposures, investing in clean energy, improving urban design, and more. Chapters are authored by widely recognized experts. The result is a comprehensive and optimistic overview of a growing field that is being adopted by researchers and universities around the world. Students of public health will gain a solid grounding in the new challenges their profession must confront, while those in the environmental sciences, agriculture, the design professions, and other fields will become familiar with the human consequences of planetary changes. Understanding how our changing environment affects our health is increasingly critical to a variety of disciplines and professions. Planetary Health is the definitive guide to this vital field.

In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.

This publication is a comprehensive assessment of leading risks to global health. It provides detailed global and regional estimates of premature mortality, disability and loss of health attributable to 24 global risk factors.--Publisher's description.

In February 2003, a Chinese physician crossed the border between mainland China and Hong Kong, spreading Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)—a novel flu-like virus—to over a dozen international hotel guests. SARS went on to kill about 800 people and sicken 8,000 worldwide. By July 2003 the disease had disappeared, but it left an indelible change on public health in China. The Chinese public health system, once famous for its grassroots, low-technology approach, was transformed into a globally-oriented, research-based, scientific endeavor. In Infectious Change, Katherine A. Mason investigates local Chinese public health institutions in Southeastern China, examining how the outbreak of SARS re-imagined public health as a professionalized, biomedicalized, and technological machine—one that frequently failed to serve the Chinese people. Mason recounts the rapid transformation as young, highly-trained biomedical scientists flooded into local public health institutions, replacing bureaucratic government inspectors who had dominated the field for decades. Infectious Change grapples with how public health in China was reinvented into a prestigious profession in which global impact and recognition were paramount—and service to vulnerable local communities was secondary.

This practical guide provides the knowledge and skills social workers need when navigating the complex health care environment, while having to continuously adapt to change. Substantially revised and updated, the fourth edition delivers a wealth of new information reflecting the rapidly evolving health care landscape. Full of practice-oriented advice, it encompasses all aspects of professional health care social work in the U.S. health care system, across all key settings. Throughout the fourth edition there is a strong emphasis on the importance of developing best practices that are evidence-based, culturally-sensitive, supportive, and ethically accountable. The book is also a call to action for social workers, who must not only be therapeutically effective but also professionally competitive with other health care providers offering similar services. Each chapter contains professional profiles in diverse practice areas along with a glossary, reflective questions, and relevant websites. New to the Fourth Edition: Major updates on all recent changes in health care practice and the ACA and the role of the health care social worker, including an increased emphasis on the role of social justice Updated information related to the NASW Code of Ethics, including use of technology and evaluation Increased emphasis on Evidence-Based Practice throughout Updated with the different roles of social workers, including medical social work in the military, VA hospitals and clinics, and advocacy for those who are serving or have served New sections on behavioral health and integrative practice, telehealth, Institutional Review Boards (IRBs), social work practice in emergency departments, and home health, intimate partner/domestic violence, mandated reporting, and duty to protect/duty to warn Major changes to health and mental health assessment, including updated DSM-5 and WHO assessments Examining ethical dilemmas, including vaccinations and new sections on pain and spirituality Completely rewritten content on prevention, health, and wellness coaching Key Features: Encompasses all aspects of professional health care social work in the U.S. health care system, across key settings and patient populations Highlights the need for more organizational and leadership knowledge Provides tools for adapting to all major changes in health care with updated roles and functions Includes a wealth of advice through professional profiles Supplementary material for instructors includes PowerPoints and an Instructor’s Manual with sample syllabus, course-related CSWE accreditation suggestions, classroom activities, and a test bank for each chapter