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

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.

Educational institutions for individuals specializing in the field of public health.

Education and training in PUBLIC HEALTH for the practice of the profession.

Management of public health organizations or agencies.

An agency of the UNITED STATES PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE that conducts and supports programs for the prevention and control of disease and provides consultation and assistance to health departments and other countries.

Organized groups serving in advisory capacities related to health planning activities.

Administrative units of government responsible for policy making and management of governmental activities.

The systematic application of information and computer sciences to public health practice, research, and learning.

Educational programs designed to ensure that students attain prespecified levels of competence in a given field or training activity. Emphasis is on achievement or specified objectives.

Disciplines concerned with the study of human and animal behavior.

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

Field of medicine concerned with the determination of causes, incidence, and characteristic behavior of disease outbreaks affecting human populations. It includes the interrelationships of host, agent, and environment as related to the distribution and control of disease.

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

The use of biological agents in TERRORISM. This includes the malevolent use of BACTERIA; VIRUSES; or other BIOLOGICAL TOXINS against people, ANIMALS; or PLANTS.

The interactions between representatives of institutions, agencies, or organizations.

The level of governmental organization and function below that of the national or country-wide government.

The purposes, missions, and goals of an individual organization or its units, established through administrative processes. It includes an organization's long-range plans and administrative philosophy.

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.

The capability to perform the duties of one's profession generally, or to perform a particular professional task, with skill of an acceptable quality.

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.

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

An approach of practicing medicine with the goal to improve and evaluate patient care. It requires the judicious integration of best research evidence with the patient's values to make decisions about medical care. This method is to help physicians make proper diagnosis, devise best testing plan, choose best treatment and methods of disease prevention, as well as develop guidelines for large groups of patients with the same disease. (from JAMA 296 (9), 2006)

The circulation or wide dispersal of information.

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

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).

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.

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

Sudden increase in the incidence of a disease. The concept includes EPIDEMICS and PANDEMICS.

A course of study offered by an educational institution.

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

Systematic gathering of data for a particular purpose from various sources, including questionnaires, interviews, observation, existing records, and electronic devices. The process is usually preliminary to statistical analysis of the data.

A nursing specialty concerned with promoting and protecting the health of populations, using knowledge from nursing, social, and public health sciences to develop local, regional, state, and national health policy and research. It is population-focused and community-oriented, aimed at health promotion and disease prevention through educational, diagnostic, and preventive programs.

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

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

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)

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

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.

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.

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)

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

The state wherein the person is well adjusted.

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

Planning that has the goals of improving health, improving accessibility to health services, and promoting efficiency in the provision of services and resources on a comprehensive basis for a whole community. (From Facts on File Dictionary of Health Care Management, 1988, p299)

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.

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

The discipline concerned with using the combination of conventional ALLOPATHIC MEDICINE and ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE to address the biological, psychological, social, and spiritual aspects of health and illness.

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

Patterns of practice related to diagnosis and treatment as especially influenced by cost of the service requested and provided.

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

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

Organized services to provide mental health care.

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

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)

Directions or principles presenting current or future rules of policy for assisting health care practitioners in patient care decisions regarding diagnosis, therapy, or related clinical circumstances. The guidelines may be developed by government agencies at any level, institutions, professional societies, governing boards, or by the convening of expert panels. The guidelines form a basis for the evaluation of all aspects of health care and delivery.

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.

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

Psychoanalytic theory focusing on interpretation of behavior in reference to self. (From APA, Thesaurus of Psychological Terms, 1994) This elaboration of the psychoanalytic concepts of narcissism and the self, was developed by Heinz Kohut, and stresses the importance of the self-awareness of excessive needs for approval and self-gratification.

A constituent organization of the DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES concerned with protecting and improving the health of the nation.

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

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.

Time period from 1901 through 2000 of the common era.

The interaction of two or more persons or organizations directed toward a common goal which is mutually beneficial. An act or instance of working or acting together for a common purpose or benefit, i.e., joint action. (From Random House Dictionary Unabridged, 2d ed)

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

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

Systematic identification of a population's needs or the assessment of individuals to determine the proper level of services needed.

A course or method of action selected, usually by a government, from among alternatives to guide and determine present and future decisions.

Studies designed to assess the efficacy of programs. They may include the evaluation of cost-effectiveness, the extent to which objectives are met, or impact.

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 seeking and acceptance by patients of health service.

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

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.

Patient-based medical care provided across age and gender or specialty boundaries.

The use of one's knowledge in a particular profession. It includes, in the case of the field of biomedicine, professional activities related to health care and the actual performance of the duties related to the provision of health care.

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

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.

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

The process of formulating, improving, and expanding educational, managerial, or service-oriented work plans (excluding computer program development).

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

A sultanate on the southeast coast of the Arabian peninsula. Its capital is Masqat. Before the 16th century it was ruled by independent emirs but was captured and controlled by the Portuguese 1508-1648. In 1741 it was recovered by a descendent of Yemen's imam. After its decline in the 19th century, it became virtually a political and economic dependency within the British Government of India, retaining close ties with Great Britain by treaty from 1939 to 1970 when it achieved autonomy. The name was recorded by Pliny in the 1st century A.D. as Omana, said to be derived from the founder of the state, Oman ben Ibrahim al-Khalil. (From Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p890; Oman Embassy, Washington; Room, Brewer's Dictionary of Names, 1992, p391)

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.

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

The bond or lack thereof between a pregnant woman and her FETUS.

The status of health in rural populations.

The status of health in urban populations.

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)

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

Any type of research that employs nonnumeric information to explore individual or group characteristics, producing findings not arrived at by statistical procedures or other quantitative means. (Qualitative Inquiry: A Dictionary of Terms Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1997)

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

A situation in which the level of living of an individual, family, or group is below the standard of the community. It is often related to a specific income level.

Disciplines concerned with the interrelationships of individuals in a social environment including social organizations and institutions. Includes Sociology and Anthropology.

The organization and operation of the business aspects of a physician's practice.

Practice of a health profession by an individual, offering services on a person-to-person basis, as opposed to group or partnership practice.

Typical way of life or manner of living characteristic of an individual or group. (From APA, Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms, 8th ed)

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).

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

The practice of personal hygiene of the mouth. It includes the maintenance of oral cleanliness, tissue tone, and general preservation of oral health.

Activities and programs intended to assure or improve the quality of care in either a defined medical setting or a program. The concept includes the assessment or evaluation of the quality of care; identification of problems or shortcomings in the delivery of care; designing activities to overcome these deficiencies; and follow-up monitoring to ensure effectiveness of corrective steps.

Procedures outlined for the care of casualties and the maintenance of services in disasters.

The concept covering the physical and mental conditions of women.

Communication, in the sense of cross-fertilization of ideas, involving two or more academic disciplines (such as the disciplines that comprise the cross-disciplinary field of bioethics, including the health and biological sciences, the humanities, and the social sciences and law). Also includes problems in communication stemming from differences in patterns of language usage in different academic or medical disciplines.

Institutions which provide medical or health-related services.

Organized services to provide health care for children.

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.

Educational attainment or level of education of individuals.

An infant during the first month after birth.

Inhaling and exhaling the smoke of burning TOBACCO.

Planning for health resources at a regional or multi-state level.

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

Activities concerned with governmental policies, functions, etc.

Services designed for HEALTH PROMOTION and prevention of disease.

Organized periodic procedures performed on large groups of people for the purpose of detecting disease.

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

The availability of HEALTH PERSONNEL. It includes the demand and recruitment of both professional and allied health personnel, their present and future supply and distribution, and their assignment and utilization.

A way of providing health care that is guided by a thoughtful integration of the best available scientific knowledge with clinical expertise. This approach allows the practitioner to critically assess research data, clinical guidelines, and other information resources in order to correctly identify the clinical problem, apply the most high-quality intervention, and re-evaluate the outcome for future improvement.

Facilities which administer the delivery of health care services to people living in a community or neighborhood.

A dental specialty concerned with the prevention of disease and the maintenance of oral health through promoting organized dental health programs at a community, state, or federal level.

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

The decision process by which individuals, groups or institutions establish policies pertaining to plans, programs or procedures.

An aspect of personal behavior or lifestyle, environmental exposure, or inborn or inherited characteristic, which, on the basis of epidemiologic evidence, is known to be associated with a health-related condition considered important to prevent.

All deaths reported in a given population.

Medical specialty concerned with the promotion and maintenance of the physical and mental health of employees in occupational settings.

Available manpower, facilities, revenue, equipment, and supplies to produce requisite health care and services.

The teaching or training of patients concerning their own health needs.

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

Smallest political subdivisions within a country at which general governmental functions are carried-out.

Support systems that provide assistance and encouragement to individuals with physical or emotional disabilities in order that they may better cope. Informal social support is usually provided by friends, relatives, or peers, while formal assistance is provided by churches, groups, etc.

Media that facilitate transportability of pertinent information concerning patient's illness across varied providers and geographic locations. Some versions include direct linkages to online consumer health information that is relevant to the health conditions and treatments related to a specific patient.

Those actions designed to carry out recommendations pertaining to health plans or programs.

Recommendations for directing health planning functions and policies. These may be mandated by PL93-641 and issued by the Department of Health and Human Services for use by state and local planning agencies.

The interaction of persons or groups of persons representing various nations in the pursuit of a common goal or interest.

Performance of activities or tasks traditionally performed by professional health care providers. The concept includes care of oneself or one's family and friends.

Organized services to provide health care to expectant and nursing mothers.

Professions or other business activities directed to the cure and prevention of disease. For occupations of medical personnel who are not physicians but who are working in the fields of medical technology, physical therapy, etc., ALLIED HEALTH OCCUPATIONS is available.

The smallest continent and an independent country, comprising six states and two territories. Its capital is Canberra.

Behaviors associated with the ingesting of alcoholic beverages, including social drinking.

Programs of surveillance designed to prevent the transmission of disease by any means from person to person or from animal to man.

An interactive process whereby members of a community are concerned for the equality and rights of all.

The ongoing, systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of health-related data with the purpose of preventing or controlling disease or injury, or of identifying unusual events of public health importance, followed by the dissemination and use of information for public health action. (From Am J Prev Med 2011;41(6):636)

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.

Evaluation procedures that focus on both the outcome or status (OUTCOMES ASSESSMENT) of the patient at the end of an episode of care - presence of symptoms, level of activity, and mortality; and the process (ASSESSMENT, PROCESS) - what is done for the patient diagnostically and therapeutically.

Includes the spectrum of human immunodeficiency virus infections that range from asymptomatic seropositivity, thru AIDS-related complex (ARC), to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).

Performance of an act one or more times, with a view to its fixation or improvement; any performance of an act or behavior that leads to learning.

Norms, criteria, standards, and other direct qualitative and quantitative measures used in determining the quality of health care.

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

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.

Localized destruction of the tooth surface initiated by decalcification of the enamel followed by enzymatic lysis of organic structures and leading to cavity formation. If left unchecked, the cavity may penetrate the enamel and dentin and reach the pulp.

A method of data collection and a QUALITATIVE RESEARCH tool in which a small group of individuals are brought together and allowed to interact in a discussion of their opinions about topics, issues, or questions.

Critical and exhaustive investigation or experimentation, having for its aim the discovery of new facts and their correct interpretation, the revision of accepted conclusions, theories, or laws in the light of newly discovered facts, or the practical application of such new or revised conclusions, theories, or laws. (Webster, 3d ed)

The obligations and accountability assumed in carrying out actions or ideas on behalf of others.

The function of directing or controlling the actions or attitudes of an individual or group with more or less willing acquiescence of the followers.

The measurement of the health status for a given population using a variety of indices, including morbidity, mortality, and available health resources.

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.

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

Financial resources provided for activities related to health planning and development.

Community or individual involvement in the decision-making process.

Conformity in fulfilling or following official, recognized, or institutional requirements, guidelines, recommendations, protocols, pathways, or other standards.

The physical condition of human reproductive systems.

A systematic statement of policy rules or principles. Guidelines may be developed by government agencies at any level, institutions, professional societies, governing boards, or by convening expert panels. The text may be cursive or in outline form but is generally a comprehensive guide to problems and approaches in any field of activity. For guidelines in the field of health care and clinical medicine, PRACTICE GUIDELINES AS TOPIC is available.

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

Time period from 1801 through 1900 of the common era.

A loose confederation of computer communication networks around the world. The networks that make up the Internet are connected through several backbone networks. The Internet grew out of the US Government ARPAnet project and was designed to facilitate information exchange.

Elements of limited time intervals, contributing to particular results or situations.

Exercise of governmental authority to control conduct.

Health services for employees, usually provided by the employer at the place of work.

The organization and administration of health services dedicated to the delivery of health care.

Federal, state, or local government organized methods of financial assistance.

Voluntary groups of people representing diverse interests in the community such as hospitals, businesses, physicians, and insurers, with the principal objective to improve health care cost effectiveness.

State plans prepared by the State Health Planning and Development Agencies which are made up from plans submitted by the Health Systems Agencies and subject to review and revision by the Statewide Health Coordinating Council.

Diseases which have one or more of the following characteristics: they are permanent, leave residual disability, are caused by nonreversible pathological alteration, require special training of the patient for rehabilitation, or may be expected to require a long period of supervision, observation, or care. (Dictionary of Health Services Management, 2d ed)

A method of comparing the cost of a program with its expected benefits in dollars (or other currency). The benefit-to-cost ratio is a measure of total return expected per unit of money spent. This analysis generally excludes consideration of factors that are not measured ultimately in economic terms. Cost effectiveness compares alternative ways to achieve a specific set of results.

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.

Revenues or receipts accruing from business enterprise, labor, or invested capital.

Descriptions and evaluations of specific health care organizations.

Individuals licensed to practice medicine.

A province of Canada lying between the provinces of Manitoba and Quebec. Its capital is Toronto. It takes its name from Lake Ontario which is said to represent the Iroquois oniatariio, beautiful lake. (From Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p892 & Room, Brewer's Dictionary of Names, 1992, p391)

Services for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases in the aged and the maintenance of health in the elderly.

Health care workers specially trained and licensed to assist and support the work of health professionals. Often used synonymously with paramedical personnel, the term generally refers to all health care workers who perform tasks which must otherwise be performed by a physician or other health professional.