The Ten Essential Services of Public Health in Action

Training Overview

Local health departments are responsible for creating and maintaining conditions that keep people in their communities healthy and safe. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has defined and updated 10 essential public health services that communities should undertake to protect and promote the health of all people in their community. This training uses a case study (based on an actual infectious disease outbreak) to relate each step of the investigation to one of the 10 essential public health services. Public health professionals should be able to describe each of these essential services, and should work to ensure that all 10 services are provided in their community.

Enroll To receive a certificate of completion. This requires registration to establish a learner profile and completion of pre- and post-tests
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What you’ll learn

After completing this training, you will be able to:

  • Summarize the 10 essential public health services
  • Describe the three local board of health (LBOH) responsibilities for infectious disease investigation: reporting, case investigation, and controlling further spread of infectious diseases
  • Classify disease investigation activities into one of the 10 essential public health services
  • Give examples of partners that are necessary to deliver the 10 essential public health services
  • List the signs and symptoms of a specific pathogen linked to this case study

Subject Matter Expert


  • Anne Fidler, ScD
    Assistant Dean and Professor
    School of Public Health, Boston University

  • Kathleen MacVarish, MS
    Associate Professor of the Practice
    School of Public Health, Boston University

Disclaimer

This training was supported by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) with funds made available by the Grant or Cooperative Agreement Number 6 NB01OT009172-01-02, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the Department of Health and Human Services.
This project is/was supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under grant number UB6HP31685 “Regional Public Health Training Center (PHTC) Program.” This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government..