Public health

Public health refers to all organised measures (whether public or private) to prevent disease, promote health, and prolong life among the population as a whole.’ (WHO).

Public health supports individuals, organisations, and society to tackle preventable disease, mortality and disability using:

• Prevention: reducing the incidence of ill health supporting healthier lifestyle
• Protection: surveillance and monitoring of infectious disease, emergency response and immunisation
• Promotion: health education and commissioning services to meet specific health needs.

Listen to this Past Caring podcast on public health nursing.

See also the RCN public health nursing exhibition available online: A healthful form of work: The history of public health nursing

• Embedding Public Health into Clinical Services programme: e-learning for health resource.
• The Public Health England (PHE) ‘All our Health Framework’ encourages all health care professionals to use their knowledge, skills and relationships, working with patients and the population to prevent illness, protect health and promote wellbeing.
• Also see the HEE Population Wellbeing Portal free e-learning resource, providing training and education in population health, wellbeing and prevention.
• The RSPH tool kit ‘Everyday Interactions’ supports health care professional measure the impact of the work they do and how this impacts on the public’s health.
• Nurses for Health Equity: Guidelines for tackling the social determinants of health (2021).

• Salt Awareness Week - 9th to 15th March 2020. The campaign this year is called Hide and seek’ it is specifically aimed at shining a light on the hidden salt in the food we buy and to raise awareness on this for the public but also to lobby for food manufacturers to cut the salt content in food. The campaign is useful for health care professionals as part of their conversations with people on eating healthily.