Education centers authorized by the Comprehensive Health Manpower Training Act, 1971, for the training of health personnel in areas where health needs are the greatest. May be used for centers other than those established by the United States act.

A geographic area defined and served by a health program or institution.

Schools which offer training in the area of health.

Collections of systematically acquired and organized information resources, and usually providing assistance to users. (ERIC Thesaurus, http://www.eric.ed.gov/ accessed 2/1/2008)

The planning and managing of programs, services, and resources.

A geographic location which has insufficient health resources (manpower and/or facilities) to meet the medical needs of the resident population.

A method of analyzing the variation in utilization of health care in small geographic or demographic areas. It often studies, for example, the usage rates for a given service or procedure in several small areas, documenting the variation among the areas. By comparing high- and low-use areas, the analysis attempts to determine whether there is a pattern to such use and to identify variables that are associated with and contribute to the variation.

A state in southeastern Australia. Its capital is Sydney. It was discovered by Captain Cook in 1770 and first settled at Botany Bay by marines and convicts in 1788. It was named by Captain Cook who thought its coastline resembled that of South Wales. (From Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p840 & Room, Brewer's Dictionary of Names, 1992, p377)

The level of health of the individual, group, or population as subjectively assessed by the individual or by more objective measures.

Large natural streams of FRESH WATER formed by converging tributaries and which empty into a body of water (lake or ocean).

Branch of medicine concerned with the prevention and control of disease and disability, and the promotion of physical and mental health of the population on the international, national, state, or municipal level.

The degree to which individuals are inhibited or facilitated in their ability to gain entry to and to receive care and services from the health care system. Factors influencing this ability include geographic, architectural, transportational, and financial considerations, among others.

The concept concerned with all aspects of providing and distributing health services to a patient population.

A systematic collection of factual data pertaining to health and disease in a human population within a given geographic area.

Creating a representation of areas of the earth or other celestial bodies, for the purpose of visualizing spatial distributions of various information.

Care which provides integrated, accessible health care services by clinicians who are accountable for addressing a large majority of personal health care needs, developing a sustained partnership with patients, and practicing in the context of family and community. (JAMA 1995;273(3):192)

Health services required by a population or community as well as the health services that the population or community is able and willing to pay for.

Institutions which provide medical or health-related services.

Decisions, usually developed by government policymakers, for determining present and future objectives pertaining to the health care system.

The seeking and acceptance by patients of health service.

Innovation and improvement of the health care system by reappraisal, amendment of services, and removal of faults and abuses in providing and distributing health services to patients. It includes a re-alignment of health services and health insurance to maximum demographic elements (the unemployed, indigent, uninsured, elderly, inner cities, rural areas) with reference to coverage, hospitalization, pricing and cost containment, insurers' and employers' costs, pre-existing medical conditions, prescribed drugs, equipment, and services.

Organized services to provide mental health care.

Encouraging consumer behaviors most likely to optimize health potentials (physical and psychosocial) through health information, preventive programs, and access to medical care.

The state wherein the person is well adjusted.

The integration of epidemiologic, sociological, economic, and other analytic sciences in the study of health services. Health services research is usually concerned with relationships between need, demand, supply, use, and outcome of health services. The aim of the research is evaluation, particularly in terms of structure, process, output, and outcome. (From Last, Dictionary of Epidemiology, 2d ed)

Diagnostic, therapeutic and preventive mental health services provided for individuals in the community.

Health services, public or private, in rural areas. The services include the promotion of health and the delivery of health care.

The state of the organism when it functions optimally without evidence of disease.

The total number of cases of a given disease in a specified population at a designated time. It is differentiated from INCIDENCE, which refers to the number of new cases in the population at a given time.

Psychiatric illness or diseases manifested by breakdowns in the adaptational process expressed primarily as abnormalities of thought, feeling, and behavior producing either distress or impairment of function.

Social and economic factors that characterize the individual or group within the social structure.

The levels of excellence which characterize the health service or health care provided based on accepted standards of quality.

Computer systems capable of assembling, storing, manipulating, and displaying geographically referenced information, i.e. data identified according to their locations.

Public attitudes toward health, disease, and the medical care system.

Statistical measures of utilization and other aspects of the provision of health care services including hospitalization and ambulatory care.

Planning for needed health and/or welfare services and facilities.

Knowledge, attitudes, and associated behaviors which pertain to health-related topics such as PATHOLOGIC PROCESSES or diseases, their prevention, and treatment. This term refers to non-health workers and health workers (HEALTH PERSONNEL).

Facilities which administer the delivery of psychologic and psychiatric services to people living in a neighborhood or community.

Behaviors expressed by individuals to protect, maintain or promote their health status. For example, proper diet, and appropriate exercise are activities perceived to influence health status. Life style is closely associated with health behavior and factors influencing life style are socioeconomic, educational, and cultural.

Studies in which the presence or absence of disease or other health-related variables are determined in each member of the study population or in a representative sample at one particular time. This contrasts with LONGITUDINAL STUDIES which are followed over a period of time.

The number of new cases of a given disease during a given period in a specified population. It also is used for the rate at which new events occur in a defined population. It is differentiated from PREVALENCE, which refers to all cases, new or old, in the population at a given time.

Services for the diagnosis and treatment of disease and the maintenance of health.

Special hospitals which provide care to the mentally ill patient.

The inhabitants of rural areas or of small towns classified as rural.

Insurance providing coverage of medical, surgical, or hospital care in general or for which there is no specific heading.

A rating of a body of water based on measurable physical, chemical, and biological characteristics.

The concept pertaining to the health status of inhabitants of the world.

Men and women working in the provision of health services, whether as individual practitioners or employees of health institutions and programs, whether or not professionally trained, and whether or not subject to public regulation. (From A Discursive Dictionary of Health Care, 1976)

The optimal state of the mouth and normal functioning of the organs of the mouth without evidence of disease.

Elements of residence that characterize a population. They are applicable in determining need for and utilization of health services.

Education that increases the awareness and favorably influences the attitudes and knowledge relating to the improvement of health on a personal or community basis.

Government-controlled hospitals which represent the major health facility for a designated geographic area.

A system of medical care regulated, controlled and financed by the government, in which the government assumes responsibility for the health needs of the population.

The amounts spent by individuals, groups, nations, or private or public organizations for total health care and/or its various components. These amounts may or may not be equivalent to the actual costs (HEALTH CARE COSTS) and may or may not be shared among the patient, insurers, and/or employers.

Ongoing scrutiny of a population (general population, study population, target population, etc.), generally using methods distinguished by their practicability, uniformity, and frequently their rapidity, rather than by complete accuracy.

Management of public health organizations or agencies.

The inhabitants of a city or town, including metropolitan areas and suburban areas.

Predetermined sets of questions used to collect data - clinical data, social status, occupational group, etc. The term is often applied to a self-completed survey instrument.

The status of health in rural populations.

The science of controlling or modifying those conditions, influences, or forces surrounding man which relate to promoting, establishing, and maintaining health.

Statistical models which describe the relationship between a qualitative dependent variable (that is, one which can take only certain discrete values, such as the presence or absence of a disease) and an independent variable. A common application is in epidemiology for estimating an individual's risk (probability of a disease) as a function of a given risk factor.

Variation in rates of disease occurrence and disabilities between population groups defined by socioeconomic characteristics such as age, ethnicity, economic resources, or gender and populations identified geographically or similar measures.

Diagnostic, therapeutic and preventive health services provided for individuals in the community.

The promotion and maintenance of physical and mental health in the work environment.

An infant during the first month after birth.

Planning for the equitable allocation, apportionment, or distribution of available health resources.

The activities and endeavors of the public health services in a community on any level.

Preferentially rated health-related activities or functions to be used in establishing health planning goals. This may refer specifically to PL93-641.

The monitoring of the level of toxins, chemical pollutants, microbial contaminants, or other harmful substances in the environment (soil, air, and water), workplace, or in the bodies of people and animals present in that environment.

Components of a national health care system which administer specific services, e.g., national health insurance.

A health care system which combines physicians, hospitals, and other medical services with a health plan to provide the complete spectrum of medical care for its customers. In a fully integrated system, the three key elements - physicians, hospital, and health plan membership - are in balance in terms of matching medical resources with the needs of purchasers and patients. (Coddington et al., Integrated Health Care: Reorganizing the Physician, Hospital and Health Plan Relationship, 1994, p7)

The confinement of a patient in a hospital.

Maleness or femaleness as a constituent element or influence contributing to the production of a result. It may be applicable to the cause or effect of a circumstance. It is used with human or animal concepts but should be differentiated from SEX CHARACTERISTICS, anatomical or physiological manifestations of sex, and from SEX DISTRIBUTION, the number of males and females in given circumstances.

Science dealing with the properties, distribution, and circulation of water on and below the earth's surface, and atmosphere.

A medical specialty concerned with the provision of continuing, comprehensive primary health care for the entire family.

The concept covering the physical and mental conditions of women.

Studies in which individuals or populations are followed to assess the outcome of exposures, procedures, or effects of a characteristic, e.g., occurrence of disease.

Economic sector concerned with the provision, distribution, and consumption of health care services and related products.

Conversations with an individual or individuals held in order to obtain information about their background and other personal biographical data, their attitudes and opinions, etc. It includes school admission or job interviews.

The practice of sending a patient to another program or practitioner for services or advice which the referring source is not prepared to provide.

Institutions with an organized medical staff which provide medical care to patients.

Studies used to test etiologic hypotheses in which inferences about an exposure to putative causal factors are derived from data relating to characteristics of persons under study or to events or experiences in their past. The essential feature is that some of the persons under study have the disease or outcome of interest and their characteristics are compared with those of unaffected persons.

Statistical interpretation and description of a population with reference to distribution, composition, or structure.

The flow of water in enviromental bodies of water such as rivers, oceans, water supplies, aquariums, etc. It includes currents, tides, and waves.

Degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions.

The systems and processes involved in the establishment, support, management, and operation of registers, e.g., disease registers.

The status of health in urban populations.

Disorders in which there is a loss of ego boundaries or a gross impairment in reality testing with delusions or prominent hallucinations. (From DSM-IV, 1994)

Observation of a population for a sufficient number of persons over a sufficient number of years to generate incidence or mortality rates subsequent to the selection of the study group.

A stratum of people with similar position and prestige; includes social stratification. Social class is measured by criteria such as education, occupation, and income.

Contamination of bodies of water (such as LAKES; RIVERS; SEAS; and GROUNDWATER.)

Water containing no significant amounts of salts, such as water from RIVERS and LAKES.

Attitudes of personnel toward their patients, other professionals, toward the medical care system, etc.

Organized services to provide health care for children.

A specialized agency of the United Nations designed as a coordinating authority on international health work; its aim is to promote the attainment of the highest possible level of health by all peoples.

Studies in which subsets of a defined population are identified. These groups may or may not be exposed to factors hypothesized to influence the probability of the occurrence of a particular disease or other outcome. Cohorts are defined populations which, as a whole, are followed in an attempt to determine distinguishing subgroup characteristics.

Age as a constituent element or influence contributing to the production of a result. It may be applicable to the cause or the effect of a circumstance. It is used with human or animal concepts but should be differentiated from AGING, a physiological process, and TIME FACTORS which refers only to the passage of time.

The status during which female mammals carry their developing young (EMBRYOS or FETUSES) in utero before birth, beginning from FERTILIZATION to BIRTH.

Research aimed at assessing the quality and effectiveness of health care as measured by the attainment of a specified end result or outcome. Measures include parameters such as improved health, lowered morbidity or mortality, and improvement of abnormal states (such as elevated blood pressure).

Water particles that fall from the ATMOSPHERE.