The Contested Boundaries of American Public Health
304 pages, 6 x 9
9
Paperback
Release Date:25 Apr 2008
ISBN:9780813543123
The Contested Boundaries of American Public Health
Rutgers University Press
The role of public health services in America is generally considered to be the reduction of illness, suffering, and death. But what exactly does this mean in practice? At different points in history, professionals in the field have addressed housing reform, education about sex and illegal drugs, hospital and clinic care, gun violence, and even bioterrorism. But there is no agreement about how far public health efforts should go in attempting to modify behaviors seen as lifestyle choices, or whether the field's mandate extends to intervening in broader social and economic conditions.
The authors of the thirteen essays in this book attempt to understand what are, and what should be, the field's chief goals and activities. Drawing on examples that include September 11th, Hurricane Katrina, the anthrax scare, and more, contributors examine the historical evolution of the profession and show how public health is changing in the context of natural and human-made disasters and the politics that surround them.
The authors of the thirteen essays in this book attempt to understand what are, and what should be, the field's chief goals and activities. Drawing on examples that include September 11th, Hurricane Katrina, the anthrax scare, and more, contributors examine the historical evolution of the profession and show how public health is changing in the context of natural and human-made disasters and the politics that surround them.
These essays are thought-provoking and speak to the core issues underpinning the public health effort across the spectrum. This book provides a solid foundation for guiding new thought among public health leaders as they work to build a new architecture to counter twenty-first century health threats. This book is a must read for anyone with a stake in protecting and promoting our public's health.
This book is a must read for anyone with a stake in protecting and promoting our public's health.
An important read for anyone in the field of public health, The Contested Boundaries of American Public Health provides a timely analysis of the many ways in which the boundaries of public health are constantly being negotiated. From the emergence of chronic diseases as leading causes of death to the threats of bioterrorism in a post 9-11 world, the authors lay down a compelling, analytical foundation as they examine how far public health should extend its reach and what means are appropriate to carry out its mission.
An invaluable introduction to an often-neglected, but increasingly visible aspect of medicine in society. This should be of interest to anyone interested in the formation of policy in the twenty-first century.
This valuable compendium's articles focus on the complexities of renegotiating the boundaries of intervention in promotion of a healthy population in a political climate that elevates individual responsibility and limited government. This collection should be mandatory reading for history of medicine/public health graduate students. Highly recommended.
JAMES COLGROVE is an assistant professor of sociomedical sciences at Columbia University.
GERALD E. MARKOWITZ is a distinguished professor of history at John Jay College, City University of New York.
DAVID ROSNER is the Ronald Lauterstein professor of sociomedical sciences and history at Columbia University and the codirector of the Center for the History and Ethics of Public Health.
GERALD E. MARKOWITZ is a distinguished professor of history at John Jay College, City University of New York.
DAVID ROSNER is the Ronald Lauterstein professor of sociomedical sciences and history at Columbia University and the codirector of the Center for the History and Ethics of Public Health.
Public health and economics: externalities, rivalries, excludability, and politics / Sherry Glied
The limits of relying on employers in an intersectoral public health partnership / Dennis P. Scanlon and Marianne H. Hillemeier
Speaking for the public: the ambivalent quest of twentieth-century public health / Nancy Tomes
Environmental health as a core public health component / Phil Brown
Paternalism and its discontents: motorcycle helmet laws, libertarian values, and public health / Marian Moser Jones and Ronald Bayer
Prevention strategies and public health: individual and structural prevention in homelessness / William McAllister, Mary Clare Lennon, and Işil Çelimli
Dealing with Humpty Dumpty: research, practice, and the ethics of public health surveillance / Amy L. Fairchild
Health production: a common framework to unify public health and medicine / Alvin R. Tarlov
The challenge of 9/11 to the ideologies of population and public health / David Rosner and Gerald Markowitz
Public health preparedness: evolution or revolution? / Nicole Lurie, Jeffrey Wasserman, and Christopher D. Nelson
Blown away: health care, health coverage, and public health after 9/11 and Katrina / Beatrix Hoffman
The limits of relying on employers in an intersectoral public health partnership / Dennis P. Scanlon and Marianne H. Hillemeier
Speaking for the public: the ambivalent quest of twentieth-century public health / Nancy Tomes
Environmental health as a core public health component / Phil Brown
Paternalism and its discontents: motorcycle helmet laws, libertarian values, and public health / Marian Moser Jones and Ronald Bayer
Prevention strategies and public health: individual and structural prevention in homelessness / William McAllister, Mary Clare Lennon, and Işil Çelimli
Dealing with Humpty Dumpty: research, practice, and the ethics of public health surveillance / Amy L. Fairchild
Health production: a common framework to unify public health and medicine / Alvin R. Tarlov
The challenge of 9/11 to the ideologies of population and public health / David Rosner and Gerald Markowitz
Public health preparedness: evolution or revolution? / Nicole Lurie, Jeffrey Wasserman, and Christopher D. Nelson
Blown away: health care, health coverage, and public health after 9/11 and Katrina / Beatrix Hoffman
Related Titles
Comrades in Health
U.S. Health Internationalists, Abroad and at Home
Edited by Anne-Emanuelle Birn and Theodore M. Brown; Foreword by Vicente Navarro
