Glossary of Public Health Terms

Jan 28

Written By Bianca van der Meulen

Public Health is the science of protecting, promoting, and improving the health of entire communities of people. Unlike doctors and nurses who treat individuals when they get sick or injured, public health professionals work behind the scenes to prevent communities from getting sick in the first place.
Race is a social classification of people based on phenotype (your physical features). Race corresponds to no biological or genetic reality; rather, races are categories that society invents, manipulates, or retires when convenient.

A Health Outcome is the result of various factors in an individual’s life that impact an area of their health. An example of a health outcome is low birth weight.
If a group of people are more likely to experience a health outcome than another group, then a Health Disparity is present. For instance, African Americans being more likely to acquire diabetes than white people is an example of a health disparity.
Health Equity occurs when all groups of people have access to education, health services, a safe environment, and other things that will allow them to reach their full health potential regardless of where they stand in society.
Social Determinants of Health are the factors in one’s life that impact health and wellbeing. These factors, or conditions, include things like employment, access to healthy food and racism.
Social Justice requires not only fairness in how individuals in society are treated and how decisions are made, but an intentional focus on society’s most vulnerable groups. Social justice is directly related to public health because public health calls for individuals to direct their attention to the needs of the most disadvantaged in our community to bolster health and wellness for all.
Environmental Racism occurs when communities of color are subject to disproportionate exposure to environmental hazards such as toxic waste, pollution and lead. Environmental racism also occurs when communities of color have limited or no access to necessary ecological sustenance like clean water, fresh air and other natural resources.
Medical Racism is prejudice and discrimination in medical research and healthcare that occurs due to race.