Public Health's Role in Understanding Community Resilience

The relationship between public health and community resilience is one that has not seemed to be discussed in the current mainstream research of resilience. In public health, the term resilience or community resilience has not yet been widely explored, but as a sector focused on improving and sustaining the long-term health of communities (people and environment) as well as having a hand in preparedness and response to myriad public health emergencies, most would agree that community resilience is exactly what public health is focused on achieving. In addition, the concept of resilience in emergency management has been previously researched and discussed, and with the goals of public health preparedness and emergency management being dynamically intertwined, it is also reasonable to look at how those sectors interface and interact. This article defines what public health is and does, explores the reasons for why a resilient public will help communities become more resilient, and makes the argument that when studying resilience and what makes resilient communities, public health should certainly be on the list of participating planning partners and key response agencies.