10 Essential Services of Public Health

The 2002 Institute of Medicine Report based its recommendations on these essential public health services. These services relate directly to the three core functions of public health: Assessment, Policy Development, and Assurance.

Monitor health status to identify community health problems.
Examples: Conducting a community assessment; determining health service needs; identifying threats to health; identifying community assets and resources

Diagnose and investigate health problems and health hazards in the community.
Examples: Providing access to public health labs; maintaining active infectious disease epidemiology programs; maintaining technical capacity for responding to epidemiologic investigations and outbreaks

Inform, educate, and empower people about health issues.
Examples: Participating in community development efforts; participating in health education efforts with schools, churches, or worksites; providing accessible health information to clients and others in the community

Mobilize community partnerships to identify and solve health problems.
Examples: Building coalitions to draw upon the resources of the full community; undertaking defined health improvement planning efforts and projects

Develop policies and plans that support individual and community health efforts.
Examples: Developing and tracking measurable objectives; fostering leadership development at all levels; developing policies and legislation to guide practice of public health

Enforce laws and regulations that protect health and ensure safety.
Examples: Enforcing sanitation codes; protecting drinking water supplies; providing animal control services; monitoring quality of care

Evaluate effectiveness, accessibility, and quality of personal and population based health services.
Examples: Assessing effectiveness of programs; providing information for allocating resources and reshaping programs

Research for new insights and solutions to health problems.
Examples: Link with institutions of higher learning; ensure staff training for participation in responding to outbreaks and in conducting research

Link people to needed personal health services and assure the provision of health care when otherwise unavailable.
Examples: Assessing the effectiveness of programs; providing culturally - appropriate communication and materials; providing outreach and education for special populations

Assure a competent public health and personal health care workforce.
Examples: Providing education, training, assessment of staff; establishing efficient procedures for licensure; creating partnerships with professional training programs