Magickdawn
Posted February 3, 2009
This book isn't meant for light reading, it is a textbook. And as textbooks go, it is pretty good. Not dry, relevant examples, well organized
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Posted December 7, 2007
How do you take a potentially interesting topic and make it God-awfully boring? Ask experts to contribute to a catch-all book, without specifying any word limits. This was a prescribed textbook for a class, and I considered it a sort of penance, a right-of-passage act to go through this book. If my review does little more than irritate at least one of the contributors to go out and write a more readable book, then my purpose will be served. ***** There is a lot of overlap between the chapters, and this is to be expected when there are multiple contributors. Most of the chapters are uniformly boring. 'To be fair, there were one or two chapters that were better than the rest'. This is a shame since the topic itself is interesting. As with other public health 'PH' textbooks, there is almost a narcissistic tendency to reflect on historical PH projects. While some amount of history is essential, the emphasis should have been on management and administration principles, followed by how these apply to PH. There is a wealth of interesting information on management and administration - both in PH and in other areas - that could have been included. In many chapters, the sub-headings could have been more clearly laid out. If you provide an initial list of things, and discuss them further in separate headings, number them the same way in both places. ********* It is a fundamental idea in PH that one has to engage the public - in whatever manner it is possible to do so. Why can't the same principle be applied in engaging the PH student? ****** If you are a student who has been prescribed this textbook for a course, then my advice would be for you to read it really well. The worst thing that could happen to you is that you will have to repeat the course, and be tied to this book for another semester.
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More About This Textbook
Overview
New Edition Available 8/15/2013
This shorter, more user-friendly edition of Public Health Administration: Principles for Population-Based Management will provide your students with a comprehensive understanding of the principles, practices, and skills essential to successful public health administration.
The second edition has been thoroughly revised and includes new information on the Healthy People 2010 objectives as well as two new chapters on bioterrorism and emergency preparedness; and public health systems research. The chapter on public health law has been thoroughly revised by the nation’s top public health law expert. Other updates include coverage of the most recent reports issued by the Institute of Medicine as well as analysis on the relationships between public health and the healthcare services with a particular focus on the uninsured.
The book contains black-and-white illustrations.
Editorial Reviews
From The Critics
Reviewer: Richard H. Sewell, MPH(University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health)Description: This book provides an excellent conceptual framework for contemporary public health practice while contributing to a broad understanding, for managers and leaders, of the public health enterprise. A historical context and a flow of logic are presented using the language of current public health reforms. This updates the first edition published in 2001.
Purpose: The editors allow the author of the foreword, Dr. Edward Baker, to express the book's purpose as the provision of tools so that "administration" can be used to translate effective leadership into effective action. This worthy objective is largely met. The tools, however, are presented at a conceptual level and methods and steps are occasionally omitted.
Audience: It is intended for public health leaders and managers, which is an appropriate audience. The contributors are credible authorities on the various public health topics presented.
Features: The second edition offers a population health context for critical topics facing the public health system and public health departments. The best presentations, by topic, are public health definitions and their historical context, workforce, human resources, constituency building, performance management, marketing in public health, and disaster preparedness. The authors of the chapter on defining public health offer a clear progression of public health events and reforms that have shaped the current definition. The workforce chapter is critical reading in understanding the challenges facing the industry. The chapter on public health marketing is fundamental to the development of strategies that overcome systemic public health system problems in changing health behaviors. Throughout the book, tables, figures, and exhibits complement the themes, although some of the longer tables could have been moved to an appendix. In the presentations on the delivery of personal health services in the public health system, insufficient attention is paid to the role of management using an epidemiological framework. The book is contemporary in its treatment of post-reform public health system characteristics, but fails to outline attempts to improve the health of populations through unique approaches to measurement and program design for personal health services. The parallels between closed system managed care systems and public health could have enlightened this discussion. The treatment of assessment and strategic planning in public health failed to adequately distinguish between assessment and planning. The methods component of this chapter is inadequate in guiding readers through the pre-planning phase. Health indicators tended to be limited to health status with inadequate mention of health services measures.
Assessment: This second edition is essential reading for public health managers and leaders. For public health students and practitioners, it is superior to Management Principles for Health Professionals, 5th edition, Liebler et al. (Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 2008), due to its rich public health content. It is also superior to Essentials of Public Health Management, 2nd edition, Fallon et al. (Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 2009), since there is a greater emphasis on the public health system and not just public health departments. The new developments since the previous edition outlined in the book's foreword justify this second edition.
From The Critics
Reviewer: Richard H. Sewell, MPH(University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health)Description: This book provides an excellent conceptual framework for contemporary public health practice while contributing to a broad understanding, for managers and leaders, of the public health enterprise. A historical context and a flow of logic are presented using the language of current public health reforms. This updates the first edition published in 2001.
Purpose: The editors allow the author of the foreword, Dr. Edward Baker, to express the book's purpose as the provision of tools so that "administration" can be used to translate effective leadership into effective action. This worthy objective is largely met. The tools, however, are presented at a conceptual level and methods and steps are occasionally omitted.
Audience: It is intended for public health leaders and managers, which is an appropriate audience. The contributors are credible authorities on the various public health topics presented.
Features: The second edition offers a population health context for critical topics facing the public health system and public health departments. The best presentations, by topic, are public health definitions and their historical context, workforce, human resources, constituency building, performance management, marketing in public health, and disaster preparedness. The authors of the chapter on defining public health offer a clear progression of public health events and reforms that have shaped the current definition. The workforce chapter is critical reading in understanding the challenges facing the industry. The chapter on public health marketing is fundamental to the development of strategies that overcome systemic public health system problems in changing health behaviors. Throughout the book, tables, figures, and exhibits complement the themes, although some of the longer tables could have been moved to an appendix. In the presentations on the delivery of personal health services in the public health system, insufficient attention is paid to the role of management using an epidemiological framework. The book is contemporary in its treatment of post-reform public health system characteristics, but fails to outline attempts to improve the health of populations through unique approaches to measurement and program design for personal health services. The parallels between closed system managed care systems and public health could have enlightened this discussion. The treatment of assessment and strategic planning in public health failed to adequately distinguish between assessment and planning. The methods component of this chapter is inadequate in guiding readers through the pre-planning phase. Health indicators tended to be limited to health status with inadequate mention of health services measures.
Assessment: This second edition is essential reading for public health managers and leaders. For public health students and practitioners, it is superior to Management Principles for Health Professionals, 5th edition, Liebler et al. (Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 2008), due to its rich public health content. It is also superior to Essentials of Public Health Management, 2nd edition, Fallon et al. (Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 2009), since there is a greater emphasis on the public health system and not just public health departments. The new developments since the previous edition outlined in the book's foreword justify this second edition.
Booknews
Experienced managers in public health offer a broad overview of concepts and strategies for contemporary public health administration. They examine the theoretical and philosophical underpinnings of managerial decision making, and the practical knowledge, tools, and strategies required by organizations to navigate the current environment. The key organizing principle and unifying theme is population-based management, which emphasizes maximizing health and well being across the entire community or population rather than performance within individual programs and organizations. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)4 Stars! from Doody
Product Details
Related Subjects
Table of Contents
Defining Public Health: Historical and Contemporary Developments
A Framework for Public Health Administration and Practice
Organization of the Public Health Delivery System
The Public Health Work Force
Public Health Law
Ethics and Public Health
OPERATIONAL ISSUES IN PUBLIC HEALTH ADMINISTRATION
Public Health Data Acquisition
Public Health Surveillance
Using Information Systems for Public Health Administration
Geographic Information Systems for Public Health
Public Health Assessment
Public Health Education and Health Promotion
Evaluation of Public Health Interventions
Public Health Research
Protecting Human Subjects in Public Health Research
ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESSES AND STRATEGIES FOR PUBLIC HEALTH ORGANIZATIONS
Human Resources Management
Financing the Public's Health
Performance Measurement and Improvement
Communication and Media Relations
Public Health Marketing
Building Constituencies for Public Health
Academic Partnerships in Public Health Practice
Legislative Relations in Public Health
Leadership in Public Health
Appendix 24-A - Leading Organizational Change in Public Health: The Case of the Cabarrus County Public Health Authority
APPLICATIONS IN PUBLIC HEALTH ADMINISTRATION
Community Based Prevention
Environmental Health Administration
Public Health Laboratory Administration
Roles and Responsibilities of Public Health in Disaster Preparedness and Response
Administering Effective HIV Prevention Interventions
Managed Care, Public Health and the Uninsured
Epilogue: Population-Based Management and the Emerging Public Health System