The Ten Essential Public Health Services and MAPP- A History

The ten essential public health services are used throughout the MAPP process. The ten essential public health services framework was developed in 1994 as a method for better identifying and describing the core processes used in public health to promote health and prevent disease. All public health responsibilities (whether conducted by the local public health agency or another organization within the community) can be categorized into one of the services.  The MAPP model was developed in 1999-2000 to be used as a guide for local and state public health systems in their efforts to achieve the optimal performance standards of the National Public Health Standards Program.

The Ten Essential Public Health Services are:

1. Monitor health status to identify community health problems.
2. Diagnose and investigate health problems and health hazards in the community.
3. Inform, educate, and empower people about health issues.
4. Mobilize community partnerships to identify and solve health problems.
5. Develop policies and plans that support individual and community health efforts.
6. Enforce laws and regulations that protect health and ensure safety.
7. Link people to needed personal health services and assure the provision of health care when otherwise unavailable.
8. Assure a competent public health and personal health care workforce.
9. Evaluate effectiveness, accessibility, and quality of personal and population-based health services.
10. Research for new insights and innovative solutions to health problems.

Further information about each essential service — including a description of the types of activities found in each — can be found in the Local Health System Performance Measurement instrument (used in both MAPP's Local Health System Assessment, as well as the National Public Health Performance Standards Program).