2.4. Explain the functions of public health

This guide will help you answer 2.4. Explain the functions of public health.

Public health is about preventing illness, protecting health, and improving the health of communities and populations. It works at a population level rather than focusing on treating individual conditions. In the UK, public health involves a range of services, activities, and policies aimed at promoting healthy living, preventing disease, and ensuring equal access to care for everyone. In this guide, we cover some of the core functions of public health, their importance, and their role in improving wellbeing.

Promoting Health and Wellbeing

One of the main functions of public health is to promote better health and wellbeing across communities. The goal is to help people make informed choices about their lifestyles to reduce the risk of ill health.

Health promotion focuses on educating the population about behaviours that contribute to healthier lives. Campaigns and community programmes are often used to support this. Examples include:

• Encouraging regular physical activity through promotional campaigns like “This Girl Can.”
• Providing guidance on healthy eating through initiatives such as Change4Life, which promotes balanced diets and the benefits of reducing sugar intake.
• Anti-smoking campaigns offering advice, resources, and stop-smoking services to reduce tobacco use.
• Raising awareness about the dangers of excessive alcohol consumption and support for those seeking help with dependency.

This function often goes hand-in-hand with tackling wider determinants of health, which influence how easy it is for people to live healthier lives. For example, providing access to affordable fresh food and safe recreational spaces contributes to healthier lifestyles.

Preventing the Spread of Disease

Public health plays a vital role in preventing and controlling the spread of both infectious and non-infectious diseases. This often focuses on early detection, immunisation, and outbreak control.

For infectious diseases, public health teams monitor trends to identify outbreaks and limit their spread. Measures include:

• Immunisation programmes, such as the childhood vaccines delivered through the NHS. These protect against diseases like measles, mumps, rubella, and polio.
• Contact tracing and quarantine procedures to manage outbreaks of infectious diseases like tuberculosis or COVID-19.
• Undertaking surveillance, where health data is gathered and analysed to anticipate potential outbreaks before they occur.

For non-communicable diseases like heart disease, diabetes, and cancer, public health aims to reduce risk factors. This might include promoting regular health checks, offering smoking cessation services, or holding screening programmes for conditions such as breast or cervical cancer.

Reducing Health Inequalities

Health inequalities refer to unfair differences in health outcomes between various population groups. These inequalities are often influenced by factors like income, geographical location, education, employment, and housing. Public health focuses on addressing these differences to improve fairness and provide equal access to health opportunities.

Some groups, such as ethnic minorities or individuals in low-income households, often face poorer health outcomes. Public health initiatives target these groups to ensure they receive the support and resources they need.

For instance:

• Subsidised early screening programmes for cancers or cardiovascular conditions in areas with higher levels of deprivation.
• Offering free school meals to improve children’s nutrition in low-income families.
• Community outreach programmes to educate marginalised groups about accessing healthcare services.

By addressing inequalities, public health seeks to ensure everyone has the opportunity to experience improved health and wellbeing, no matter their background.

Monitoring and Researching Health Trends

Another important public health function is to monitor population health and identify emerging issues. Public health professionals collect and analyse data at local and national levels to find patterns in health outcomes, behaviours, or risks.

This function allows authorities, like Public Health England (now part of the UK Health Security Agency), to set priorities and develop interventions based on evidence. For example, if an area shows a high rate of obesity, public health teams can implement targeted weight management programmes.

Key tools for monitoring health include:

• Population health surveys that collect information on diet, exercise, smoking, drinking, and more.
• Mortality and morbidity rates, which show death or illness trends over time.
• Hospital admission records and GP data.

Research into how certain behaviours or environments affect health is also critical. For instance, public health scientists study the long-term effects of air pollution or the impact of access to green spaces on mental health. Their findings drive changes in health strategy and policy.

Planning and Implementing Health Services

Public health teams are involved in planning health services to address the needs of the population. This involves identifying gaps in healthcare provision and allocating resources effectively.

For example:

• In areas with high levels of teenage pregnancies, public health teams might establish youth-friendly sexual health clinics, provide contraception services, or run education workshops around relationships.
• Where data shows high rates of smoking-related illnesses, local authorities might introduce free stop-smoking programmes, telephone support lines, and nicotine replacement therapy services.

After services are introduced, public health ensures they are working as intended. Evaluations are done to determine whether the services are having a positive impact and whether funding needs adjustment.

Emergency Preparedness and Health Protection

Public health is responsible for ensuring communities are prepared to handle health emergencies. These emergencies may include disease outbreaks, chemical spillages, or other events that pose risks to human health.

Activities in this area include:

• Developing contingency plans for pandemics, such as the influenza pandemic plan or the response plans for COVID-19.
• Running drills and training health professionals so they can respond quickly and effectively when public health crises occur.
• Providing public warnings about ongoing or imminent health risks, such as air quality alerts during heatwaves or advice during outbreaks of foodborne illness.

Health protection also extends to minimising risks from the environment. For instance, public health teams might develop strategies to address the effects of climate change, like reducing heat-related illnesses or improving flood preparation measures.

Encouraging Collaboration Across Policies

Public health works with other sectors—including housing, transport, education, and employment—to influence policies that improve health outcomes at a wider level. This often involves collaboration between government departments, local authorities, the NHS, and voluntary organisations.

For example:

• Encouraging the development of active travel initiatives like cycle paths and pedestrian-friendly spaces to boost physical activity levels.
• Influencing housing policy to ensure homes are warm, safe, and affordable, preventing respiratory diseases linked to damp or poorly insulated houses.
• Working with schools to deliver programmes focusing on children’s mental health or physical activity.

This coordinated approach ensures that health considerations are built into other areas of public life, improving outcomes for individuals and communities.

Educating and Supporting Communities

Public health focuses on giving communities the tools and information they need to take responsibility for their health. Education campaigns play a key part in this, aiming to make complex health issues accessible to everyone.

These campaigns take many forms:

• Leaflet distributions in GP surgeries.
• National TV adverts on healthy lifestyles.
• Social media campaigns targeting younger audiences.

Public health supports individual behaviour change by linking people to services or providing local health programmes. Examples include weight-loss groups, support for drug and alcohol problems, and mental health support hubs.

Conclusion

Public health has a wide range of functions, all dedicated to protecting and improving the health of populations. Through disease prevention, promoting healthier living, reducing inequalities, and improving access to services, it helps create healthier environments for everyone. Understanding these functions highlights how public health professionals work to improve outcomes, protect vulnerable groups, and respond to the constantly developing health needs of communities.