Public Health Local and Global Perspectives

Due to the shift to the social model of health care, public health researchers and practitioners are increasingly interested in the insider perspectives and experiences of key players in health, including health consumers and healthcare providers (Olson, Young & Schultz, 2016). Thus, qualitative research has been adopted in public health in many ways and in numerous fields of health research. The main focus of this chapter is on qualitative research. You will learn about the nature of qualitative inquiry and the need for qualitative research in public health. You will also gain a basic understanding of some philosophical assumptions of qualitative research that lead to different understandings about public health in different groups of people. Attempts have been made in the past few decades to provide evidence-based public health care to individuals and communities. Thus, we have witnessed a large number of research projects carried out in the public health arena. Evidence-based practice in public health and the need for qualitative inquiry are also discussed in this chapter.