Community and public health practices are commonly not stressed in an Associate Degree of Nursing program; unlike the Bachelor of Science in nursing programs that provide students with the knowledge base to differentiate between and recognize public health and community health. This paper will review the history of community and public health. The similarities and differences between public health and community health will be addressed; ending with a review of the disaster management plan for Maricopa County.
History of Public HealthPublic health practice can be traced back to the Black Death of the fourteenth century when systems of quarantine were established by towns and cities (Mooney, 2005). In the 1700s, public health organizations were often organized by the police department; health agencies only became involved for the threat of outbreaks (Scutchfied & Keck, 2003). It was not until the late 1800s when an increasing amount of effort was put into enhancing public health.
English: Burnstein Community Health Clinic, a free...
Public Health - Knowledge into Action
Community Health SystemsConventions were held between 1857 and 1860 on systems of quarantine and sanitation in major U.S. cities along the east coast (Scutchfied & Keck, 2003). In 1864, Red Cross was established in the United States (Stanhope & Lancaster 2008); a survey was conducted that same year by a group in New York City to find a correlation of outbreaks and premature infant death among varies sections of the city; this was followed by the establishment of the American Public Health Association in 1872 (Scutchfied & Keck, 2003). In 1915, Yale founded one of the United States first academic programs in public health (Association of Schools of Public Health, 2006). In 1920 public health was defined by Charles Winslow as:The science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting physicalhealth and efficiency through organized community efforts for the sanitation of theenvironment, the control of community infections,