Public Health and Public Care may, at first, seem like similar terms for the same concept but that is not the case. Public health is the overall vitality of a population made up of individuals. Any number of aspects of a society or industry regulations can influence public health. Public care is the medical caretaking of individuals stricken with some disease or affliction. This paper will explore the differences and similarities between public health and public care, as well as discuss the working relationship between the two.
Public health is the more basic concept of the two. Public health is a term used to describe the well-being of the public as a whole. It is easy to mention the advances made in medical care in the last few centuries, …show more content…
In the past, the citizens of a teeming metropolis lived in their own filth, drank the cleanest water they could find, and subsided on whatever food was in surplus. This was just the way it was. Their poor living conditions were not due to any malicious force acting to subjugate them. Rather, their poor living conditions were due to a lack of understanding of the importance of public health. It was not until much more recently that learned men figured out that it is in the best interest of everyone to have a healthy populace. It was only then that educated individuals began to make an effort to study how to improve the living conditions of the poor. One good example of an early effort to improve public health through science and logic was a cholera outbreak in London during the summer of 1854. By this time, it was well understood that a healthy public is conducive to a healthy society. When hundreds of people came down with cholera, a deadly diarrheal disease, the science of epidemiology got a chance to show its worth. Before long, John Snow – one of the first epidiologists – had shown the source of the outbreak to be contamination at one water pump on Broad Street. The …show more content…
One way is in the numbers of the ill. If a large portion of the population is at risk, a public health measure must be undertaken. If only a few individuals are at risk, their well-being can be ensured by proper, individualized treatment from doctors. Another way to differentiate between public health and public care is at what point in the progression of the disease is the effort made. Generally, preventative measures are thought of as public health measures. Closing a contaminated water pump to reduce the number of people at risk of contracting cholera is a public health measure. Developing personalized, effective prosthetics is a public care initiative undertaken on an individual
Public health is the more basic concept of the two. Public health is a term used to describe the well-being of the public as a whole. It is easy to mention the advances made in medical care in the last few centuries, …show more content…
In the past, the citizens of a teeming metropolis lived in their own filth, drank the cleanest water they could find, and subsided on whatever food was in surplus. This was just the way it was. Their poor living conditions were not due to any malicious force acting to subjugate them. Rather, their poor living conditions were due to a lack of understanding of the importance of public health. It was not until much more recently that learned men figured out that it is in the best interest of everyone to have a healthy populace. It was only then that educated individuals began to make an effort to study how to improve the living conditions of the poor. One good example of an early effort to improve public health through science and logic was a cholera outbreak in London during the summer of 1854. By this time, it was well understood that a healthy public is conducive to a healthy society. When hundreds of people came down with cholera, a deadly diarrheal disease, the science of epidemiology got a chance to show its worth. Before long, John Snow – one of the first epidiologists – had shown the source of the outbreak to be contamination at one water pump on Broad Street. The …show more content…
One way is in the numbers of the ill. If a large portion of the population is at risk, a public health measure must be undertaken. If only a few individuals are at risk, their well-being can be ensured by proper, individualized treatment from doctors. Another way to differentiate between public health and public care is at what point in the progression of the disease is the effort made. Generally, preventative measures are thought of as public health measures. Closing a contaminated water pump to reduce the number of people at risk of contracting cholera is a public health measure. Developing personalized, effective prosthetics is a public care initiative undertaken on an individual