Summary
Contents
Subject index
Key Concepts in Public Health identifies fifty key concepts used across the discipline of public health in order to give the reader a broad perspective of the core topics relevant to training and practice. From epidemiology to health promotion, and ethics to leadership, the book offers an exciting guide to the multiprofessional field. Each entry features a snapshot definition of the concept, a broader discussion addressing the main issues and links to practice, key points relevant to the entry, case studies to illustrate the application to practice, and examples of further reading.
Screening and Public Health
Screening and Public Health
Definition
The original meaning of the word ‘screen’ was ‘sieve’, an apparatus used to separate bad corn from good (Simpson and Weiner, 1989). The ‘sieve’ concept is helpful because an inherent fact of screening is that the healthy population and the population with disease or its precursors are rarely completely discrete and separate populations like goats and sheep. Screening tests sort out the apparently well persons who probably have a disease from those who probably do not. Therefore, a commonly used definition of screening is the systematic application of a test or inquiry, to identify individuals at sufficient risk of a specific disorder to warrant further investigation or direct preventative action, amongst persons who have not sought medical ...
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