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April 2005, Vol 95, No. 4 | American Journal of Public Health 567-570
© 2005 American Public Health Association
DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2004.043844

COMMENTARY

Talking About Public Health: Developing America’s "Second Language"

Lawrence Wallack, DrPH and Regina Lawrence, PhD

Lawrence Wallack is with the College of Urban and Public Affairs, Portland State University, Portland, Ore. Regina G. Lawrence is with the Hatfield School of Government at Portland State University.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Regina Lawrence, PhD, Division of Political Science, Portland State University, PO Box 751—PS, Portland, OR 97207–0751 (e-mail: lawrencer{at}pdx.edu).

The mission of public health—improving the health of populations—is difficult to advance in public discourse because a language to express the values animating that mission has not been adequately developed. Following on the work of Robert Bellah, Dan Beauchamp, and others, we argue that the first "language" of American culture is individualism.

A second American language of community—rooted in egalitarianism, humanitarianism, and human interconnection—serves as the first language of public health. These values resonate with many Americans but are not easily articulated. Consequently, reductionist, individualistic understandings of public health problems prevail.

Advancing the public health approach to the nation’s health challenges requires invigorating America’s second language by recognizing the human interconnection underlying the core social justice values of public health.




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