A Framework for Integrated Public Health

Public health is located both at the centre of health and on the educational, health promoting periphery. Given this enigma, it is important that new learners and established professionals can understand their position in relation to other disciplines and the wider policy landscape. This paper presents a conceptual framework known as Hodges' model that: (1) Possesses a conceptual structure that can encompass care delivery, public health, mental health and health literacies; (2) Can assist our reflections as we deliberate upon the following: "There's no integrated view of integrated care. The danger is that you have an integrated care system and everyone says, 'I will do one as well', and you end [up] with six of them." (Powell, 2012, p. 22). The framework is easy to understand, is accessible across health care disciplines, is simple in its basic form, but can also be applied in complex health care contexts. Actual and potential applications include patient and public engagement, personal and group reflection, patient education, health literacy and self-efficacy. The benefits of such a framework are several and include: provision of a common conceptual currency across disciplines and organisations including health and social care, local authorities, social enterprises and other key stakeholders in the health of the public. Future research directions are identified, chief among these posits the model as a series of conceptual spaces.
Powell, O (2012). Integrated Care. Let the Data Flow. Health Service Journal, June 21, 20-25.