Public health

The principles of health and sickness affecting the population, including the means for health promotion and prevention and community and primary care.

population health
principles of health affecting the population
health promotion for the public

knowledge

cross-sector

Public health is an essential knowledge of the following occupations:

Healthcare consultant: Healthcare consultants advise health care organisations on the development of plans to improve patient care and safety. They analyse health care policies and identify issues, and aid in the development of improvement strategies.
Nurse responsible for general care: Nurses responsible for general care are in charge of promoting and restoring patients` health by providing physical and psychological support to patients, friends, and families. They also supervise assigned team members.
Environmental health inspector: Environmental health inspectors carry out investigations to ensure that areas, organisations and companies comply with environmental and public health legislation. They evaluate environmental complaints, provide reports on their findings and work to prevent future hazards or noncompliance with current policies. Environmental health inspectors perform consultations to promote public health and safety.
Environmental engineer: Environmental engineers integrate environmental and sustainable measures in the development of projects of various natures. They seek to preserve natural resources and natural sites. They work together with engineers from other fields to envision all the implications that projects might have in order to design ways to conserve natural reserves, prevent pollution, and deploy sanitary measures.
Epidemiologist: Epidemiologists centre their research on origin and causes for illness eruption in humans. They determine the way in which diseases are spread out and propose risk preventive measures to health policy organisms.
Public health policy officer: Public health policy officers develop and implement strategies for the improvement of a community’s health care policy. They advise governments on policy changes and identify problems in current health care policies.

Public health is optional for these occupations. This means knowing this knowledge may be an asset for career advancement if you are in one of these occupations.

Toxicologist: Toxicologists study the effects that chemical substances or biological and physical agents have in living organisms, more specifically, on the environment and on the animal and human health. They determine doses of the exposure to substances for arising toxic effects in environments, people, and living organisms, and also perform experiments on animals and cell cultures.
Healthcare institution manager: Healthcare institution managers supervise the operations of healthcare institutions, such as hospitals, rehabilitation facilities, home care services and elderly care institutions to ensure the organisation meets requirements, the patients and residents are cared for, the organisation is maintained and the necessary equipment present. They also supervise the staff and ensure record maintenance.
Environmental protection manager: Environmental protection managers provide advice on the development of environmental policies to governmental and official institutions. They analyse possible threats for the well being of the people and the environment in a region and manage campaigns aimed at tackling problems such as waste collection, landfills, and preservation of green areas.
Policy manager: Policy managers are responsible for managing the development of policy programs and ensuring that the strategic objectives of the organization are met. They oversee the production of policy positions, as well as the organization’s campaign and advocacy work in fields such as environmental, ethics, quality, transparency, and sustainability.
Dietitian: Dietitians assess specific nutritional requirements of populations or individuals throughout their lives and translate this into advice which will maintain, reduce risk to, or restore people’s health. Using evidence-based approaches, dietitians work to empower individuals, families and groups to provide or select food which is nutritionally adequate, safe, tasty and sustainable. Beyond healthcare, dietitians improve the nutritional environment for all through governments, industry, academia and research.
Civil engineer: Civil engineers design, plan, and develop technical and engineering specifications for infrastructure and construction projects. They apply engineering knowledge in a vast array of projects, from the construction of infrastructure for transportation, housing projects, and luxury buildings, to the construction of natural sites. They design plans that seek to optimise materials and integrate specifications and resource allocation within the time constraints.

References

1. Public health – ESCO