Lectures 5 and 6: Science, Politics and Prevention (Chapter 1)

After this lecture, you should be able to answer the following:

1. Who was Charles-Edward A. Winslow? What did he contribute to Public Health?

2. What are the major aspects of Winslow’s definition of ‘Public Health?’

3. What are some of the key successes of Public Health?

4. What are the three key functions of Public Health? Describe each function to your study partner using examples.

5. Explain the six major areas of science and math that contribute to Public Health?

6. Explain what is meant by the term “shoe-leather epidemiology?”

7. How does cure differ from prevention?

8. Public Health’s approach to health problems can be described as a five step process. What are those five steps?

9. With respect to Public Health, what are the three types of prevention? Give examples of each type.

10. What is the “Chain of Causation” Model? How does this model relate to disease prevention?

11. Please make sure to do the assigned reading and homework questions associated with today's lecture.

Lectures 2 and 3 and 4: Prologue

After this lecture, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. Outline the series of events that resulted in the Public Awareness of the AIDS epidemic.
* What was the role of the media?
* How did the Public initially respond?
* What is the infectious agent? a virus? a bacteria? How is that infectious agent spread?
* Who was C. Everett Koop? What was his stance on AIDS education?
* Who was Jesse Helms? What was his stance on the use of Federal Funds for AIDS education?
* Just how expensive is it to maintain the drug regimens of AIDS patients?
* Do government programs help subsidize the cost of these drug regimens?
* How much does it cost the U.S. each year to pay for such government programs?

2. Outline the series of events that resulted in the 1993 outbreak of "intestinal flu" in Milwaukee.
* How does widespread abseenteeism affect the Public Health?
* What is Cryptosporidium parvum? What kinds of symptoms does it cause in humans? How is it transmitted?
* What is the risk of exposure of immunocompromised patients to this parasite?
* What was the concrete evidence that the drinking water was contaminated with this parasite?

3. What are some of the factors that contributed to the decline of Public Health in Russia?

4. With respect to life expectancy in Russia, has it increased or decreased in the past 40 years?

5. How does the infant mortality rate of Russia compare to that of the United States?

6. How many abortions occur in Russia for every 10 births?

7. How has the Chernobyl diaster contributed to the decline of Public Health in that country?

8. List some Public Health measures that could be implemented to help improve the Public Health of Russia.

Lecture 1: Overview of Public Health

After this lecture, you should be able to answer the following:

1. How does Public Health differ from Clinical Medicine?

2. Briefly outline the selected history of Public Health

3. What were some of the effective Public Health achievements of the 20th century that helped control the spread of infectious diseases?

4. What factors have contributed to safe and healthier foods?

5. Have Public Health efforts helped against smoking? What do the statistics say?

6. What are the core functions of Public Health?

7. What are some of the current Public Health issues affecting both New York and the United States?