Application of Systems Thinking to Health Policy & Public Health Ethics: Public Health and Private Illness

by Michele Battle-Fisher

Overview

​​​​This book looks at health policy through the lens of public versus private: population health versus the somatic, social, or emotional experiences of a patient. Rather than presenting policy/ethics as overly technical, this book takes a novel approach of framing public and private health in terms of political philosophy, ethics, and popular examples. Each chapter ties back to the general ethics or political literature as applicable, which are not customarily parts of the current public health curriculum. The author's work on the Orgcomplexity blog has touched on this subject by systemically exploring public policy issues, and the tone of this book mimics the blog with an extension of the arguments.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783319122038
Publisher:	Springer-Verlag New York, LLC
Publication date:	11/14/2014
Series:	SpringerBriefs in Public Health
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	100
File size:	661 KB

Table of Contents

​​Introduction.- The Justice League of Health: Flexing Policy's Muscle.- Health Systems and Policy as the "Price is Right".- Public versus Private: Stop Stepping on My Toes.- The Sting of Public Health.- Is it Yours, Mine and Ours?.- Building on What We've Started.- Conclusion.

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Tyler Zahrli, MA (Saint Louis University)
Description: This interdisciplinary overview of current public health issues focuses on healthcare systems, infectious disease, health disparities, healthcare policy, policy development, and the effects of those policies.
Purpose: The purpose is to demonstrate the importance of public healthcare policy development and its implementation, while noting the multifaceted effects of policy and the negative effects of policy development and implementation.
Audience: The audience is anyone interested in public health and healthcare policy. The book provides brief summaries of healthcare policy research, which the author says is potentially beneficial for an interdisciplinary group focusing on these issues.
Features: The book is not a rigorous account of public health issues, but an introduction to and overview of the complexities intrinsic to public health and healthcare policy related to personal liberty, communication, vulnerability, disparities, and quality assessment. These issues are concisely addressed through case examples of infectious disease, homelessness, public tobacco usage, organ donation, and others. It begins with an introduction to the idea of systems in healthcare and public health.
Assessment: This is a useful book for gaining a basic understanding of the multifaceted features of public health policies and their implications. It provides a multifaceted yet fundamental understanding of healthcare policy, serving as a great introduction.

Doody's Review Service

This interdisciplinary overview of current public health issues focuses on healthcare systems, infectious disease, health disparities, healthcare policy, policy development, and the effects of those policies. … The audience is anyone interested in public health and healthcare policy. … This is a useful book for gaining a basic understanding of the multifaceted features of public health policies and their implications.” (Tyler Zahrli, Doody’s Book Reviews, December, 2015)

From the Publisher