Introduction to Public Health, Fifth Edition offers a thorough, accessible overview of the expanding field of public health for students new to its concepts and actors. Written in engaging, nontechnical language, this best-selling text explains in clear terms the multi-disciplinary strategies and methods used for measuring, assessing, and promoting public health.

Packed with illustrative real-world examples, this updated edition provides students with informative discussions of the current technical issues and practical obstacles facing public health practitioners and policymakers alike.

In her unique style, author Mary Jane Schneider goes beyond the science of Public Health with a hard look at the politics that put these topics in the headlines. Readers will come away with a broad-reaching, practical framework for understanding the multifaceted forces and organizations of today's public health enterprise.

Key Features:

Up-to-date coverage of the newest developments in infectious disease, injury control, environmental health controversies, the reform of the American healthcare system, and more
Vivid presentation of Public Health principles through current stories in the news, such as Ebola in the United States, e-cigarettes, eating disorders, the California Measles outbreak, and traumatic brain injury in the NFL
Extensive discussion of current topics including population growth and climate change as contributors to drought, wars, and migrations in the Middle East; and the implementation of the Affordable Care Act in the United States
Navigate 2 Advantage Access a mobile-ready package of online course materials including a comprehensive, interactive eBook, study tools, and graded assessments

Prologue
Part I What Is Public Health?
Chapter 1 Public Health: Science, Politics, and Prevention
Chapter 2 Why Is Public Health Controversial?
Chapter 3 Powers and Responsibilities of Government
Part II Analytical Methods of Public Health
Chapter 4 Epidemiology: The Basic Science of Public Health
Chapter 5 Epidemiologic Principles and Methods
Chapter 6 Problems and Limits of Epidemiology
Chapter 7 Statistics: Making Sense of Uncertainty
Chapter 8 The Role of Data in Public Health
Part III Biomedical Basis of Public Health
Chapter 9 The Conquest of Infectious Diseases
Chapter 10 The Resurgence of Infectious Diseases
Chapter 11 The Biomedical Basis of Chronic Diseases
Chapter 12 Genetic Diseases and Other Inborn Errors
Part IV Social and Behavioral Factors in Health
Chapter 13 Do People Choose Their Own Health?
Chapter 14 How Psychosocial Factors Affect Health Behavior
Chapter 15 Public Health Enemy Number One: Tobacco
Chapter 16 Public Health Enemy Number Two and Growing: Poor Diet and Physical Inactivity
Chapter 17 Injuries Are Not Accidents
Chapter 18 Maternal and Child Health as a Social Problem
Chapter 19 Mental Health: Public Health Includes Healthy Minds
Part V Environmental Issues in Public Health
Chapter 20 A Clean Environment: The Basis of Public Health
Chapter 21 Clean Air: Is It Safe to Breathe?
Chapter 22 Clean Water: A Limited Resource
Chapter 23 Solid and Hazardous Wastes: What to Do with the Garbage?
Chapter 24 Safe Food and Drugs: An Ongoing Regulatory Battle
Chapter 25 Population: The Ultimate Environmental Health Issue
Part VI Medical Care and Public Health
Chapter 26 Is the Medical Care System a Public Health Issue?
Chapter 27 Why the U.S. Medical System Needs Reform
Chapter 28 Health Services Research: Finding What Works
Chapter 29 Public Health and the Aging Population
Part VII The Future of Public Health
Chapter 30 Emergency Preparedness, Post-9/11
Chapter 31 Public Health in the Twenty-First Century: Achievements and Challenges
Glossary