Anonymous
Posted July 21, 2003
This, alas, is the same badly written and blandly irrelvant book that Turnock has been selling for years. If you want to read a simple-minded tract about the way public health should function in a utopian society,read Turnock's book. If you're looking for a balanced analysis by a REAL public health expert, look elsewhere.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted July 30, 2012
I was assigned this book as part of an undergraduate public health class and was looking forward to engrossing myself in issues relevant to the health and well being of my country. What I received was a book that contained 533 pages of propaganda. I am not sure how many ways one needs to say that the state of Public Health in this country is bleak but Turnock certainly found chapters to be made from that statement. There was way to much statistical data that was not relevant to anything that I as a student would find useful. Furthermore, there were entire chapters devoted to the assimilation of cohorts as well as how local health departments get funding making the education more centered around their bureaucratic needs rather than on learning about the services that they are providing. It was a painful read to say the least. I am sure this book will be collecting dust on my shelf in the time to come.
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Posted July 26, 2005
Excellent public health book. Great Author with plenty of good examples. Very informative and easy to read.
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Posted December 30, 2004
Anyone expecting this book to be an honest, reliable, public health guide should be duly warned. This book contains an alarming number of factual and logical errors, and Bernard Turnock is an extremely unscrupulous public health figure. Don't make the mistake of buying this book - it is a fraud perpetrated by an unethical, opportunistic author.
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Posted May 6, 2003
This is an excellent, helpful summary of public health issues by a recognized expert in the field. Both beginning and advanced public health students will enjoy reading this book.
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More About This Textbook
Overview
Using a straightforward systems approach, Public Health: What It Is and How It Works explores the inner workings of the complex, modern U.S. public health system—what it is, what it does, how it works, and why it is important. It covers the origins and development of the modern public health system; the relationship of public health to the overall health system; how the system is organized at the federal, state, and local levels; its core functions and how well these are currently being addressed; evidence-based practice and an approach to program planning and evaluation for public health interventions; public health activities such as epidemiological investigation, biomedical research, environmental assessment, policy development, and more.
Transition to the New Edition! Click here to access our transition guide—and make changing your course materials from the third edition to the fourth edition as easy as possible!
The Fourth Edition is a thorough revision that includes:
The latest developments with public health agency accreditation, public health worker credentialing, workforce development, as well as future challenges in the field.
Coverage of the new core competencies for the MPH degree recently established by the Association of Schools of Pubic Health.
A new series of charts describing current health status and trends related to the content of each chapter.
New Learning Objectives in each chapter.
New Public Health Spotlights in chapters 1-8 which provide a focused examination of topics related to the learning objectives for that chapter.
A complete package of instructor support material for both online and traditional classroom environments including course modules, sample syllabus, course resources, competency map, and detailed chapter-by-chapter PowerPoint slides.
The book contains black-and-white illustrations.
Editorial Reviews
Marvin J. Bittner
This comprehensible, but not comprehensive, textbook describes public health, emphasizing the role of state and local health departments in the United States. Its initial chapters describe public health, measurements of health status, and the health system. Most of the book describes the work of health departments, including their structure, general functions, infrastructure, programs, and challenges. The author is a public health physician who has directed a state health department and a teacher who introduces public health students to their profession. Consequently, the book aims to convey a broad understanding of the public health system and how it works, rather than a detailed guide to public health practice. Its broad perspective commends it to the public health professional engaged in strategic planning. Its clear organization, concise explanations, discussion questions at the end of each chapter, and glossary aid the student. The author makes a case for broader support for public health and notes the benefit that would occur if the book were read by other health professions students and students of social and political science. Many graphs, tables, and excerpts from public health documents illustrate the public health issues explained in the book. However, the book is largely a methodical outline describing public health in general. Escherichia coli O157:H7 disease is used as an example of public health challenges, but the author's restrained, brief description will not arouse as much passion as the series of newspaper articles about the Summer 1997 beef contamination from a Nebraska plant. Coupled with lectures and supplementary readings that demonstrate the urgencyof public health issues, this book could serve as an excellent foundation for an introductory course in public health. The U.S. health system would be better off if this book's concepts were understood by public health officials and opinion leaders.Booknews
Aiming to clarify the scope of public health, Turnock (public health, University of Illinois-Chicago) provides historical context; defines public health functions, practices, programs, and measures; discusses the organization and infrastructure of the US health system, and future challenges (e.g. emerging pathogens, and managed care). Includes discussion questions and exercises, and a glossary of terms. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.From The Critics
Reviewer: Marvin J. Bittner, MD, MSc, FACP, FIDSA, FSHEA(Creighton University Medical Center)Description: This comprehensible, but not comprehensive, textbook describes public health, emphasizing the role of state and local health departments in the United States. Its initial chapters describe public health, measurements of health status, and the health system. Most of the book describes the work of health departments, including their structure, general functions, infrastructure, programs, and challenges.
Purpose: The author is a public health physician who has directed a state health department and a teacher who introduces public health students to their profession. Consequently, the book aims to convey a broad understanding of the public health system and how it works, rather than a detailed guide to public health practice.
Audience: Its broad perspective commends it to the public health professional engaged in strategic planning. Its clear organization, concise explanations, discussion questions at the end of each chapter, and glossary aid the student. The author makes a case for broader support for public health and notes the benefit that would occur if the book were read by other health professions students and students of social and political science.
Features: Many graphs, tables, and excerpts from public health documents illustrate the public health issues explained in the book. However, the book is largely a methodical outline describing public health in general. Escherichia coli O157:H7 disease is used as an example of public health challenges, but the author's restrained, brief description will not arouse as much passion as the series of newspaper articles about the Summer 1997 beef contamination from a Nebraska plant.
Assessment: Coupled with lectures and supplementary readings that demonstrate the urgency of public health issues, this book could serve as an excellent foundation for an introductory course in public health. The U.S. health system would be better off if this book's concepts were understood by public health officials and opinion leaders.
4 Stars! from Doody
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