The anthrax incidents following the 9/11 terrorist attacks put the spotlight on the nation's public health agencies, placing it under an unprecedented scrutiny that added new dimensions to the complex issues considered in this report.


The Future of the Public's Health in the 21st Century reaffirms the vision of Healthy People 2010, and outlines a systems approach to assuring the nation's health in practice, research, and policy. This approach focuses on joining the unique resources and perspectives of diverse sectors and entities and challenges these groups to work in a concerted, strategic way to promote and protect the public's health.


Focusing on diverse partnerships as the framework for public health, the book discusses:




The need for a shift from an individual to a population-based approach in practice, research, policy, and community engagement.
The status of the governmental public health infrastructure and what needs to be improved, including its interface with the health care delivery system.
The roles nongovernment actors, such as academia, business, local communities and the media can play in creating a healthy nation.


Providing an accessible analysis, this book will be important to public health policy-makers and practitioners, business and community leaders, health advocates, educators and journalists.

Table of Contents


Front Matter
Executive Summary
1. Assuring America's Health
2. Understanding Population Health and Its Determinants
3. The Governmental Public Health Infrastructure
4. The Community
5. The Health Care Delivery System
6. Employers and Business
7. Media
8. Academia
Appendix A: Models of Health Determinants
Appendix B: Models of Collaborative Planning in Communities
Appendix C: Recommendations from The Future of Public Health
Appendix D: Healthy People 2010 Objectives for the Public Health Infrastructure
Appendix E: Competencies for Public Health Workers: A Collection of Competency Sets for Public Health-Related Occupations and Professions
Appendix F: Data-Gathering Activities
Appendix G: Agendas for Public Committee Meetings
Appendix H: Committee Biographies
Index