Difference Between Personal Health And Public Health

Public vs Personal Health

The terms public health and personal health are often used interchangeably, however, they are different. Public or community health deals with a population or segment of people, while personal health deals with an individual. Personal health reflects the choices that an individual makes regarding his or her behavior, lifestyle and risks that are taken. The mission of public health programs is to help provide living conditions for the community where the people can remain healthy ("Definition of Public Health," 2015).

Public health programs are designed to protect and improve the health of communities, which could be as small as a local neighborhood or as large as an entire state or country ("What is Public Health,"

They raise the visibility of the role and importance of the local health department. For many, the health department is viewed as a clinic where poor people go to receive medical treatment. Community outreach programs, offered and operated by health departments, help to change the public’s perception of health departments and help the public to recognize the health needs within their own communities (Welch, 1988, p. 850-851). Although assessments raise awareness of issues, an unintentional consequence is the potential to create a negative opinion of the community or population that is part of the assessment. Imagine an assessment that is performed in a predominately African-American community that identifies a high incidence of children that do not receive appropriate medical care or adults that are engaged in high-risk sexual behavior. The general public may form a negative opinion about the race. The same issues may be prevalent in other communities, but because they were not part of the assessment, some may believe that this only affects African-Americans (Young,

In fact, annually there are approximately 46,000 deaths attributed to heart disease and 3,400 deaths attributed to lung cancer in adults that have never smoked ("Morbidity and Mortality," 2011). Signed into law on May 17, 2007, The Clean Indoor Air Act of Maryland was designed to protect individuals from involuntary exposure to tobacco smoke in public indoor areas ("Smoking Regulations," 2014). The purpose of this law was to improve the health, comfort and environment for those who chose not to smoke. Restaurants, places of employment and public transportation were included in this legislation. This act was not intended to take away the rights of citizens in their own homes and cars, however, if they use their homes or cars for public purposes, like a daycare, then the act extends to these areas also ("Smoking Regulations,"