Jonathan E. Fielding - Böcker

Los Angeles County, the most populous county in the United States, is home to 10 million people and 88 municipalities. It is larger than 41 of the 50 states. Comprising urban centers, extensive suburbs, and low-income, rural, and agricultural communities, it poses complex public health challenges that are diverse in scope and unmatched in scale. In Public Health Practice: What Works, the leaders of LA County's Department of Public Health compile the lessons and best practices of working in a complex and evolving public health setting. Through stories of success (and challenges) from practice, this book offers a practical guide to effective health policy and program interventions for individuals, teams, practitioners, and departments on any scale. All facets of public health practice are illustrated through case-specific chapters, including coverage of core capacities, health promotion and protection, emergency response, and service delivery. Techniques and themes addressed here include:· cross-cutting interventions and intersectoral actions to improve population health· environmental problems and influences on health outcomes· policy as a public health tool· targeted and tailored programs and services, policies, and partnershipsEmploying a casebook method to provide real-life teaching tools for practitioners and students, Public Health Practice: What Works is a new benchmark for practical, contemporary public health practice.

This book focuses on the major issues surrounding worksite health promotion programs. It identifies and discusses examples of the most intensively studied programs (such as Johnson and Johnson's "Live for Life," and AT&T's "TLC"), and considers the "state of science" for the four most frequently offered health-promotion program components: smoking cessation, weight control, exercise, and stress management. As is becoming increasingly evident, worksite health-promotion activities pose their own unique set of challenges -- challenges that are likely to have a significant impact on national health status and costs. Crucial areas addressed in this volume include program development and design, cost benefit/cost effectiveness, and legislative/policy issues.