News
The Guiding Principles of Public Health (posted April 9, 2026)
By Adam Behnke, Communications Specialist | April 2026
Put simply, public health improves our quality of life, even if we can’t directly observe the impact. The public health system, made up of governmental public health, healthcare partners, community-based organizations, and businesses, helps children thrive, reduces suffering, and saves money for individuals and institutions. The work of the public health system – often conducted behind the scenes – aims to prevent hazards and keep people healthy. According to the American Public Health Association (APHA), some of the activities the public health system is responsible for include:
- Tracking disease outbreaks and vaccinating communities to avoid the spread of disease.
- Setting safety standards to protect workers.
- Developing school nutrition programs to ensure kids have access to healthy food.
- Advocating for laws to keep people safe, including smoke-free indoor air and seatbelts.
- Working to prevent gun violence.
- Addressing the impact of climate change on our health.
- Declaring racism as a public health crisis.
The first full week of April is National Public Health Week, an opportunity to recognize the broad impact and hard work of public health workers in all their various forms.
“National Public Health Week provides us with the opportunity to pause and recognize the often quiet, yet consistent work people do every day to keep the communities where we work, live, play, and learn, healthy and safe,” said Anna Nick, Brown County Public Health Officer/Administrator. “It takes all of us working together to improve health and wellness. We are both thankful to our dedicated and passionate team members working here with Brown County Public Health, as well as to all of our community partners and community-based organizations who work every day to protect and promote the health of the community.”
Consider this edition of the Healthy Herald a brief primer about the basics of the public health system and how governmental public health – such as county-level agencies - are a part of that larger system. Public health has an impact on your life, even without direct interaction.
10 Essential Public Health Services
It all starts with the 10 Essential Public Health Services (EPHS). For more than 30 years, this has served as a well-recognized framework for carrying out the mission of public health.
The EPHS framework was originally released in 1994 and updated in 2020. The revised version is intended to bring the framework in line with current and future public health practice. All communities should strive to undertake these activities.
[Image courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]
- Assess and monitor population health status, factors that influence health, and community needs and assets
- Investigate, diagnose, and address health problems and hazards affecting the population
- Communicate effectively to inform and educate people about health, factors that influence it, and how to improve it
- Strengthen, support, and mobilize communities and partnerships to improve health
- Create, champion, and implement policies, plans, and laws that impact health
- Utilize legal and regulatory actions designed to improve and protect the public’s health
- Assure an effective system that enables equitable access to the individual services and care needed to be healthy
- Build and support a diverse and skilled public health workforce
- Improve and innovate public health functions through ongoing evaluation, research, and continuous quality improvement
- Build and maintain a strong organizational infrastructure for public health
Health at the Community Level
According to another model developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a person’s individual health behaviors make up only 30% of their overall health. The other 70% is determined by factors bigger than the choices we make on a daily basis. You can see the breakdown in a bit more detail below:
- 40% Social and Economic Factors
- Education
- Employment
- Income
- Family and Social Support
- Community Safety
- 30% Health Behaviors
- Tobacco Use
- Diet and Exercise
- Alcohol Use
- Unsafe Sex
- 20% Clinical Care
- Access to Care
- Quality of Care
- 10% Physical Environment
- Environmental Quality
- Built Environment
The Public Health Ecosystem
Public health professionals help keep our communities safe, healthy, and informed in a number of different ways. Here are some of the key roles within this so-called ecosystem, according to the Public Health Communications Collaborative:
Physical Health: Community vaccine clinics and free or low-cost checkups. Accessible information about healthy eating, exercise, and good sleep. Services like those are made possible by our public health systems and their professionals. They help keep individuals healthy, supporting vibrant, safe communities nationwide.
Mental Health: Public health makes mental health support easier to access. Free mental health tests, self-help resources, and guidance on navigating mental health care are vital parts of a strong public health system.
Environmental Health: Our physical and mental health is deeply affected by our environment. Access to safe outdoor spaces can enhance both. Public health professionals play a key role in keeping communities clean and informing them about air and water quality.
Physical Safety: Safety contributes to our overall health. Vaccines prevent severe effects of illnesses, while guidelines on water safety and extreme weather help avoid dangers. Local emergency alerts ensure that everyone in the community gets critical information during natural disasters and other crises. This is also a form of public health.
Civic Health: Communities with higher voting rates often enjoy better health outcomes. Civic engagement and public health are linked. Public health professionals boost their community’s voting rates by providing access to reliable, nonpartisan civic information.
Who are public health professionals in governmental public health?
Governmental public health is a part of the public health system’s large, interconnected network of public and private organizations and coalitions. It includes three primary levels: federal, state, and local public health agencies.
- Federal
- U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
- Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC)
- Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service
- State of Wisconsin
- WI Department of Health Services
- WI Division of Public Health
- Local Public Health
- County & City Health Departments
Your mental picture of a ‘public health worker’ may differ from that of another random person surveyed on the streets of Brown County. Are we nurses? Food inspectors? Community planners? As it turns out, the correct answer is yes! Public health in government adopts those roles, and many others:
- Restaurant inspectors
- Health educators
- Community health workers
- Scientists and researchers
- Nutritionists
- Community planners
- Social workers
- Epidemiologists
- Public health physicians and nurses
- Occupational health and safety professionals
- Policymakers
- Sanitarians
- First responders
- Biostatisticians
[List courtesy of the APHA]
Brown County Public Health employs some, but not all, of the positions listed above. How exactly your local public health agency is staffed will vary based on size, location, funding, and other factors. Staffing can sometimes change over time as a community’s needs evolve.
What’s the difference between health care and public health?
This is a common question. When many people think of ‘health care’ they envision a doctor, surgeon, or some other health care employee in an emergency room setting. We cannot blame them (I’m watching The Pitt on HBO like many others!) because individual-level health care is direct and memorable. Public health is community-level health care. While doctors and nurses care for individual patients, and are part of the public health system, most public health workers care for the health of entire communities. And, aside from some important exceptions, public health focuses on preventing people from getting sick or hurt. As an example, public health is responsible for nearly eliminating many serious diseases that were once commonplace in the United States.
Like the people who serve valiantly in the health care field, public health workers serve their communities, as well. We take many different actions to help protect people’s health. You may not always notice us, but public health workers bring a wealth of different skills together to provide that protection. We operate on the guiding principle that everyone should have an equal chance to be as healthy and safe as possible.
Final Thoughts
The explanations above paint a broad, top-level picture about what public health strives to be in all communities. But what exactly does it look like where you live? That can depend on multiple factors tied to population, funding, and political appetite. But rest assured, public health has made – and will continue to make - a difference where you live, work, worship, and play. Next month’s Healthy Herald will examine some of the specific impacts made by Brown County Public Health in the past year. Until then:
Stay Healthy, Brown County!