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Understanding public health has never been more important. It is in the headlines as never before. Aimed at all interested individuals but particularly students and professionals in nursing, medicine, social work and public health, this book encourages critical debate and reflection for a deep understanding of complexities of public health.
List of contents
Introduction Section 1: Concepts 1. Defining the problem 2. On forgetting your principles 3. The world is a fast flowing river 4. Elephants on a train in Africa 5. Elephants and the prevention of infant deaths 6. Eating an elephant 7. The age of Hygieia 8. William Morris on health 9. 'Doing health': reclaiming the 'H' word 10. Foreseeing and forestalling Section 2: Issues 11. A fish is the last one to see the water 12. Not invented here 13. Listen to the community 14. Beware of healthism 15. Go to the people 16. Conspiracies against the laity 17. We're doing it already 18. Prophets are never recognised in their own country 19. Professionals should be on tap not on top 20. Primum non Nocere Section 3: Getting to go 21. Less is usually more 22. Starting where they are 23. Don't follow the yellow brick road 24. Caveat emptor 25. Community organisers beware 26. Self fulfilling prophecy kills 27. Politics is medicine on a large scale 28. Columbus on the need for strategy 29. Starting a rumour 30. Edwin Chadwick and
The Times Section 4: Making a difference 31. The half-life of evidence 32. Proof and evidence 33. The art and science of public health 34. On strategic underview 35. The hidden health care system 36. Be careful what you are selling 37. The conspiracy of silence 38. Achieving change 39. Let the dough rise slowly 40. A sense of place Section 5: Reflections 41. Public health is an investment 42. William Henry Duncan's establishment 43. On growing potatoes 44. Life and risk 45. The importance of humour 46. Killing with kindness 47. Every silver lining has a cloud 48. Making things happen 49. Success and failure 50. The dilemma of capital cities
About the author
John Ashton is one of Britain’s foremost public health consultants whose footprint is to be found on many of the most innovative public health initiatives of the last 40 years. Born in Liverpool, John was educated at the University of Newcastle Medical School and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, before returning to the north west where he was a pioneer of the New Public Health. In the 1980s he led work on health promotion, reducing teenage pregnancy, establishing the first large-scale syringe exchange programme in the face of epidemics of heroin injection and the arrival of the HIV virus, and was one of the originators of the World Health Organisation Healthy Cities Project, now a global programme. John has always bridged the worlds of academia and practice. He is acknowledged as a first-class communicator and inspirational teacher. He has been adviser to the Crown Prince of Bahrain’s Covid-19 Taskforce and wrote a book on the pandemic. John was awarded the CBE in 2000 for contributions to the NHS.
Summary
Understanding public health has never been more important. It is in the headlines as never before. Aimed at all interested individuals but particularly students and professionals in nursing, medicine, social work and public health, this book encourages critical debate and reflection for a deep understanding of complexities of public health.
