A focus on preparedness resulting from the bombing of the World Trade Center in 2001, advances in electronic and information technologies resulting in new ways of collecting and sharing health information, and increased real-time demands on public health data have challenged public health surveillance while reinforcing the integrity of its definition and the methods by which the discipline collects, analyzes, interprets, and uses data to prevent and control injury and disease. This third edition of this book has been expanded and updated to address the economic and policy justification for pub ... More

A focus on preparedness resulting from the bombing of the World Trade Center in 2001, advances in electronic and information technologies resulting in new ways of collecting and sharing health information, and increased real-time demands on public health data have challenged public health surveillance while reinforcing the integrity of its definition and the methods by which the discipline collects, analyzes, interprets, and uses data to prevent and control injury and disease. This third edition of this book has been expanded and updated to address the economic and policy justification for public health surveillance; advances in statistical methods for analyses of surveillance data; expansion of surveillance of disease and health determinants; advances in data management and informatics; increased use of data for evidence-based decision making; and use of public health surveillance methods and principles within the health care system. Finally, the text outlines current and future challenges faced by public health surveillance practitioners, including finding the discipline's place under the broadly conceived umbrella of health knowledge; gleaning the promised efficiencies from information technologies in order to free up the crucial human inputs to planning, interpreting, and applying information from surveillance systems to better the public's health; addressing the ethical and data integrity issues that relate to data scanning and ensuring public health preparedness; and ensuring a large and well-trained public health workforce of the future.