Even in the twenty-first century, the public health community continues to face
formidable challenges. There is a need for more integrative and collaborative
approaches in public health initiatives, considering the complex relationships
among the social determinants of health within natural and built environments, population
health and health-care systems, and economic, education, and social and
community contexts. The continuing changes in the landscape of public health challenge
our ability to reconceptualize our approach to how health-care professionals
can contribute to health promotion, health education, and disease prevention efforts
in communities constantly facing the globalization of communicable and noncommunicable
diseases and environmental threats due to man-made and natural
disasters.