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Thank you @CaitlinFSanford for writing this. You address a core challenge of our field, and capture why we do what we do at @BUSPH. I largely agree with your observations, and would add a few thoughts, if I may.
Public health is politics. This is to say it is the hard process of making sure our laws reflect what we collectively agree is the best, healthiest way to organize society. It is not uncommon for decades, even generations, to pass, before our politics align with this consensus.
In the meantime, research which initially revealed solutions goes on reinforcing them, stating and restating what we already know: Income determines health. Racism makes us sick. Unfettered access to guns is the root of the shooting epidemic. Etc.
This repetition is important; it is only by changing the public conversation that we can change the political status quo.
However, it is also true that the public conversation can tune out complexity in favor of novelty and the promise of easy solutions. This creates challenges for public health.
The core socioeconomic drivers of health are simple to state, yet the mechanisms through which racism, income inequality, education, industrial deregulation, et al. shape health are deeply complex.
Sometimes we are paid to shine a light on these fundamental causes, sometimes funding lies elsewhere.
Regardless of the goal of an individual study, our collective goal must always be healthy pops. To generate health, we engage with politics, activism, and shaping the health narrative. That is what we mean at @BUSPH by our core purpose, “Think. Teach. Do. For the health of all.”
We “think” by generating knowledge, we “teach” by transmitting that knowledge to the next generation, we “do” by putting what we know into practice in local and global communities, and in the political realm.
Guided by these values, we pursue an activist public health—reflective, yet engaged; in-the-moment, yet with an eye towards the long-term; confident, yet self-reflective enough to know good intentions can sometimes lead to harm.
I hope that through this we can produce public health professionals who can align the progress of their careers with the health of the populations they serve.
Where professional incentives occasionally prove faulty guides on this path, core values are there to step in, to foster both career success and, ultimately, a healthier society.
If of interest, I have written about much of this in my @MilbankFund papers: bit.ly/2lYwnUg
And, of course, the @ActivistLabSPH is where we apply the latest data to solving some of the oldest health challenges, to ensure our work stays rooted in the communities we serve. bit.ly/2mhKLat
Again, thank you for your thoughts. They represent just the kind of engagement that makes our school better, and our world healthier. @BUSPHAdmissions @ActivistLabSPH @BU_Tweets @PubHealthPost @PopHealthEx
