Education for management in the new public health

The new public health movement has developed over the last decade and is emerging as an alternative to traditional concepts in Europe, Canada, and Australia, but not in the U.S.A. Fundamental principles, evolved mainly by the World Health Organization under the banner of the "Health for All by the Year 2000" Strategy, include community participation in health policy development and implementation of programs, emphases on primary health care and health promotion, and inter-sectoral cooperation involving agencies whose influence impinges on health. Little attention has been given to organizational and management activities. Decentralized organization of public health activities appears to be an absolute requirement, along with firm political commitment to new public health concepts. Typically, however, health authorities have tended to develop separate bureaus for new public health activities rather than integrate the latter with traditional administrative structures. It is evident that a new style of management is needed with emphases on flexibility and interactional skills. Formal attempts to incorporate new public health principles in graduate educational programs are currently underway in Europe, where all nations are committed to the concepts. The European M.P.H., which includes an as-yet-undefined component of management education, will have a core curriculum based on the new public health. Although there has been considerable activity in Australia, uncertainty remains over the viability of the new movement due to the creation of separate bureaus operating parallel to traditional health departments and their reliance mainly on a single source of funding from the federal government.