By Healthcare Brew Staff
less than 3 min read
Definition:
Public health is the science behind providing care and improving the health of all people and communities in a large-scale, general population sense.
What topics fall under public health?
Since public health impacts such a wide swath of people, there are many different ways to touch on it. The American Public Health Association includes the following subjects under its definition of public health:
- Tracking disease outbreaks
- Providing vaccinations to communities
- Creating school nutrition programs
- Advocating for laws related to health and workplace safety
- Addressing gun violence
- Studying the impact of climate change on the public’s health
- Researching racism’s impact on health
Threats to public health
With so many topics under the umbrella of public health, there are many major events that could threaten it.
For instance, major weather events like hurricanes, wildfires, and extreme heat are all on the rise across the nation, with hospitals and providers adapting so they can continue to provide care.
And who could forget the biggest public health crisis in most of our lifetimes: the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2025, the US also reckoned with spikes in measles cases, surpassing its highest recorded levels of the disease since it was declared eradicated in 2000.
