The "10 Essential Public Health Services" Is the Common Framework Needed to Communicate About Public Health

Studies, polls, and focus groups conducted over decades repeatedly have found that leaders and professionals in other sectors, elected officials, and the public do not understand what is meant by the term "public health."1-3 When asked, many have a hard time responding at all.1 Those who can offer up an attempted definition often confuse public health with health care, incorrectly equating public health practice with medical care for the poor or indigent or overemphasizing individual behavior rather than community-level change.1Our inability to communicate effectively about public health has consequences. Leaders working in education, health care, housing, and business are largely unclear about what public health professionals do and about their potential to add value to their work.1 This has made it more difficult to form partnerships and secure necessary funding. If we are to successfully communicate about public health, we must establish a common understanding.4 That needs to start with a universal framework that is used consistently throughout the field to establish a common set of ideas before discussing more specific dimensions of public health practice. The "10 Essential Public Health Services" is that common framework.