Population Child Health in Practice
- DOI:
- 10.1093/med/9780199309375.003.0009
The practice of public health involves a focus on populations rather than individuals. The size and type of population can vary enormously; public health professionals can and do operate at international, national, regional, district, and local community levels, with homogeneous and heterogeneous populations whose health, lives, and socioeconomic circumstances span a wide range. There are clear practical differences between projects focused at the national and local level, and between work in countries with very different infrastructure and health problems, but the principles of public health practice are similar whatever the size and nature of the population, and certain tools and techniques are fundamental to everyone working in the field. Public health involves a focus on populations rather than individuals; however, just as in clinical practice, the first step is to identify the problems to be addressed by defining and assessing health needs.
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