Ch. 7 Annotations

Berridge, Virginia. Public Health: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press, 
             Oxford, 2016.

The final chapter provides an overview of the changes in public health from the 19^th century to present along with concerns for the future of public health and public health interventions. For Berridge, the purpose of this chapter is to promote reflection, to encourage learning and growing from previous experiences in order to properly handle current public health issues. Berridge does this by addressing various concerns and approaches and referring to examples of previous experiences, both successful and unsuccessful. By providing supporting examples, Berridge is able to present a concrete perspective and opinion on the current status of public health. It is important to note the usage of subheadings as doing so allows the reader to easily identify the different areas being influenced by public health efforts as well as to identify the various types of concerns and tactics being addressed.

            One thing I found interesting was being able to see a quick time lapse of the changes public health underwent throughout the centuries and comparing it to where public health currently stands. This is interesting because in looking through changes quickly after having read into detail allows for a better appreciation of public health efforts as well as a clearer understanding of the fluid definition of public health. Another interesting point from this chapter is that Berridge provided hints towards the possibility of public health entering a cycle with the reemergence of certain diseases because certain tactics have been stopped. This makes Berridge’s point about reflection that much more important because public health could be addressing the same issues that had already once been resolved. Overall, the clarity of organization and the use of concrete information makes it possible for Berridge to assert and opinion regarding current public health efforts and how to approach them successfully.