Epidemiology in public health practice

Over the past decades, epidemiology has made a relevant contribution to public health by identifying health problems and analysing their determinants. However, recent developments call for new and applied methods to support the planning, implementation and evaluation of public health policies and programmes. This book presents an integrated overview of such epidemiological methods, to be used within the joint working process of several public health disciplines. It provides relevant theories, concepts and tools, illustrated with practical examples in order to empower epidemiologists in public health. The first part of this book describes epidemiological history in a nutshell and explains the relationship with the public health domain. It closes with the presentation of a joint work cycle for policy, practice and research: the public health cycle. Part II presents seven steps for epidemiologists to strengthen their contribution to the public health cycle: conduct a needs assessment, support priority setting, formulate aims and objectives, construct a logic model, develop an evaluation plan, perform quality control and analyse processes and outcomes. Part III is dedicated to successful collaboration of epidemiology with other public health disciplines such as health promotion, policy making and primary health care.