An Introduction to Community Health

Now in its Seventh Edition, An Introduction to Community Health is a mainstay in community health education, and is used in hundreds of colleges and universities across the country. This best-selling text features the latest trends and statistics in community health, covering such topics as epidemiology, community organization, program planning, minority health, health care, mental health, environmental health, drugs, safety, and occupational health. With an emphasis on developing the knowledge and skills necessary for a career in health education, it incorporates a variety of pedagogical elements that assist and encourage students to understand complex community health issues.

New to the Seventh Edition

-Details on the Affordable Care Act, the health insurance reform law passed in March 2010

-The importance of immunizations and needle exchange programs in the prevention of communicable disease

-The latest information about school wellness policies and an overview of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Health Education Curriculum Analysis Tool (HECAT) for curriculum review and development

-Information on the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, giving the FDA oversight of tobacco products

-Natural- and human-generated environmental disasters and how communities respond to them

-Discussion of distracted driving, including texting and e-mailing while driving

-New court rulings concerning restriction of firearms on college campuses (Utah) and in cities (Chicago), and the ramifications for community safety

Jerome E. Kotecki is a Professor of Health Science in the Department of Physiology and Health Science at Ball State University. Dr. Kotecki earned his doctorate in health science and his masters’ degree in exercise science from Indiana University. Professor Kotecki has published over 30 scientific articles and is co-author of the best selling textbooks An Introduction to Community Health and Physical Activity and Health: An Interactive Approach. Dr. Kotecki’s current research is focused on the impact of lifestyle medicine on chronic diseases. He is the lead scientist on several large healthy lifestyle studies focusing on the role of health-care professionals in health counseling.