Section V: Public Health Tools

Public health professionals use many tools to address the health needs of the community as a whole. In this section of the course, we will discuss four public health tools: surveillance, epidemiology, health education, and health communication.

It is important to think of these tools in the context of the program planning cycle that we discussed earlier in the course. Surveillance and epidemiology provide data and research necessary to provide the scientific basis for the program planning process. Health education and health communication are two health promotion intervention methods. They also help to realize the public health value of social equity.

Learning about each of these tools could be a semester-long course in itself. This course will provide a brief overview of each tool, with information about how to obtain further resources.