This volume is for students and practitioners interested in improving their understanding and skills in the area of needs assessment. The text follows the typical sequence of an actual needs assessment process. Case studies are used to illustrate conceptualization of the task through the application of needs-based data to effective public health solutions. Examples are drawn from myriad public health efforts, recognizing that not all public health sector agencies bear direct responsibility for all activities that could be considered part of public health.

"The Nation has lost sight of its public health goals and has allowed the system of public health to fall into 'disarray'," from The Future of Public Health. This startling book contains proposals for ensuring that public health service programs are efficient and effective enough to deal not only with the topics of today, but also with those of tomorrow. In addition, the authors make recommendations for core functions in public health assessment, policy development, and service assurances, and identify the level of government--federal, state, and local--at which these functions would best be handled.

In fact, with the control and containment of most infectious conditions and diseases of the past millennium having been achieved in most developed countries, and with the resultant increase in life expectancies, much more attention seems to have shifted to degenerative health problems. Many of the degenerative health conditions have been linked to thousands of chemicals regularly encountered in human living and occupational/work environments. It is important, therefore, that human health risk assessments are undertaken on a consistent basis - in order to determine the potential impacts of the target chemicals on public health.

This book describes the principal conceptual, methodological, and empirical developments stemming from PAHO and WHO's institutional efforts in public health, which have entailed the broad and committed participation of the Member States. It provides and overview of the status of Essential Public Health Functions (EPHF) in 41 countries and territories of the Americas, based on self-evaluation exercises performed by health authorities to measure their performance.

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.

Thousands of HIV-positive women give birth every year. Further, because many pregnant women are not tested for HIV and therefore do not receive treatment, the number of children born with HIV is still unacceptably high. What can we do to eliminate this tragic and costly inheritance? In response to a congressional request, this book evaluates the extent to which state efforts have been effective in reducing the perinatal transmission of HIV. The committee recommends that testing HIV be a routine part of prenatal care, and that health care providers notify women that HIV testing is part of the usual array of prenatal tests and that they have an opportunity to refuse the HIV test. This approach could help both reduce the number of pediatric AIDS cases and improve treatment for mothers with AIDS. Reducing the Odds will be of special interest to federal, state, and local health policymakers, prenatal care providers, maternal and child health specialists, public health practitioners, and advocates for HIV/AIDS patients. January

The regulation of potentially hazardous substances has become a controversial issue. This volume evaluates past efforts to develop and use risk assessment guidelines, reviews the experience of regulatory agencies with different administrative arrangements for risk assessment, and evaluates various proposals to modify procedures. The book's conclusions and recommendations can be applied across the entire field of environmental health.

Prevention, Policy, and Public Health provides a basic foundation for students, professionals, and researchers to be more effective in the policy arena. It offers information on the dynamics of the policymaking process, theoretical frameworks, analysis, and policy applications. It also offers coverage of advocacy and communication, the two most integral aspects of shaping policies for public health.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is carrying out an ambitious new program to assure that funds for public health programs are spent as effectively as possible. Under the new program, every state will develop a set of performance objectives to measure its progress in terms of outcomes, processes, and capacity. In the first phase of the program, states are to propose such measures to be achieved over three to five years. This book examines the technical issues involved in the development of performance measures in 10 areas: mental health, substance abuse, HIV infection, sexually transmitted diseases, tuberculosis, immunization, chronic diseases, disability, rape, and emergency medical services. From more than 3,200 candidate measures proposed by researchers, policymakers, and public health professionals, the panel proposes more than 50 potential outcome measures. The book details the advantages and limitations of potential measures as well as the data sources that can support them. This volume will be an invaluable resource to everyone involved in public health.

Assessment of Population Health Risks of Policies Gabriel Guliš, Odile Mekel, Balázs Ádám, and Liliana Cori, editors Public health continues to evolve as professionals work not only to prevent disease and promote well-being but also to reduce health disparities and protect the environment. To a greater extent, policy is intimately linked to this process, a reality that is gaining traction in the public health sector. With this understanding in mind, Assessment of Population Health Risks of Policies introduces an international set of guidelines, Risk Assessment from Policies to Impact Dimension (RAPID). In keeping with widely recognized models of public health operations, this innovative methodology factors in social, environmental, and economic health determinants to predict adverse outcomes to populations arising from large-scale policy decisions. Case studies from across the European Union illustrate both the intricacies of risk quantification and other components of assessment and possible relationships between policy and health outcomes. And contributors suggest how international health standards may be implemented despite significant cultural and political differences among nations. Included in the coverage: Public health, policy analysis, risk assessment and impact assessment Risk assessment, impact assessment and evaluation Top-down versus bottom-up policy risk assessment Quantification of health risks Application of RAPID guidance on an international policy Use of policy risk assessment results in political decision making Assessment of Population Health Risks of Policies is an essential and proactive read for researchers and practitioners in impact assessment, public policy, public health, and epidemiology.