Themes
This is a thematic study, which means that the same theme - public health - is studied across a long period of history. The past 1,000 years have seen periods of changeWhen things change and alter. The pace of change can be slow or fast. and continuityWhen things stay the same. advances and sometimes lack of progress. The study covers the following four time periods:
- Medieval Britain, c.1250-c.1500
- Early modern Britain, c.1500-c.1750
- Industrial Britain, c.1750-c.1900
- Britain since c.1900
The benefit of studying history in this way is that it allows change and continuity to stand out clearly. For each time period, this study of public health covers the following four areas:
| Key features of the period | This is an overview of life in the period - for example, where people lived, what they believed and how society was organised. These key features have important implications for public health. |
| Living conditions | This covers areas like diet, housing, water supplies and waste management. All of these can affect public health. |
| Responses to epidemics | Each period has a case study of one or two major epidemics, major outbreaks of disease that spread rapidly to a lot of people. The focus is on how ordinary people and the authorities responded to epidemics, and how effective their responses were. |
| Government (and other authorities’) involvement in public health | This covers how organisations such as the Church, town authorities and national governments have attempted to improve public health. |
| Key features of the period |
| This is an overview of life in the period - for example, where people lived, what they believed and how society was organised. These key features have important implications for public health. |
| Living conditions |
| This covers areas like diet, housing, water supplies and waste management. All of these can affect public health. |
| Responses to epidemics |
| Each period has a case study of one or two major epidemics, major outbreaks of disease that spread rapidly to a lot of people. The focus is on how ordinary people and the authorities responded to epidemics, and how effective their responses were. |
| Government (and other authorities’) involvement in public health |
| This covers how organisations such as the Church, town authorities and national governments have attempted to improve public health. |
Factors affecting change and continuity
Different factorA reason or circumstance that influences something to change or stay the same. have affected the people’s health throughout time:
- beliefs, attitudes and values
- local and national government
- science and technology
- urbanisation
- wealth and poverty
These are reasons that public health changed or stayed the same. In addition to these broad topics, more specific reasons for change and continuity can be identfied, such as the roles played by particular laws, individuals, and events.