Public Health Systems & Best Practices

At a glance

Strong public health systems are critical for protecting the public's health. Learn about best practices that can strengthen public health systems.

People clapping.

Overview

Protecting the public's health depends on strengthening public health systems and implementing proven strategies to improve health outcomes. On this page, you will find frameworks, strategies, and best practices that help protect and improve the public's health.

10 Essential Public Health Services

The 10 Essential Public Health Services (EPHS) framework provides guidance on protecting and promoting health for all people in all communities. This framework was created in 1994 and updated in 2020.

Health professionals can use the framework to introduce policies, systems, and services that enable good health in their own communities. It highlights ways to remove obstacles and systematic or structural barriers. Barriers may include poverty, racism, gender discrimination, and other forms of oppression that have resulted in health inequities.

The 10 Essential Public Health Services (EPHS) describe the public health activities that all communities should undertake. For the past 25 years, the EPHS have served as a well-recognized framework for carrying out the mission of public health. The EPHS framework was originally released in 1994 and more recently updated in 2020. The revised version is intended to bring the framework in line with current and future public health practice.
The EPHS promotes health equity for all.

Learn more about the EPHS by visiting the 10 Essential Public Health Services webpage.

Additional systems and strategies

Social determinants of health

Teacher reading to children in a classroom.
Your daily surroundings can affect your health.

The conditions around you where you are born, grow, work, live and age are called social determinants of health. They can have a wide-ranging effect on your health risks and outcomes. Differences in these conditions can lead to health inequities.

Keep Reading: Social Determinants of Health

Health department accreditation

CDC supported implementing a national voluntary accreditation program. The Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) is the accrediting body for state, tribal, local, and territorial health departments.

Accredited Health Departments

Keep Reading: Accreditation: National Voluntary Program

Performance management & quality improvement

Health departments are applying strategic approaches to manage organizational performance and improve service quality. These resources present an opportunity to increase the effectiveness of public health agencies, systems, and services.

Print
Content Source:
Public Health Infrastructure Center