Letter from the Dean

In the past few months, our world has changed. The current public health crisis has crystalized the importance of the disciplines encompassed in our college. The public health sciences are at the forefront of managing the epidemic, and our social workers and clinical fields—nursing and rehabilitation disciplines—are critical to helping the public manage the extreme dislocation this epidemic has brought to many, many people’s lives. Sadly, the response of our country has been lacking, and our healthcare system has been sorely ill-prepared to respond swiftly. All this is to say that health-focused research is critical to improving the health and well-being of Americans and key to improving the U.S. healthcare system and, importantly, the public health infrastructure. It is only fitting, then, that it is under these circumstances—and just before National Public Health Week—that we launch CommonHealth, the journal of Temple University’s College of Public Health. The COVID-19 pandemic is a testament to the importance, and power, of accurate information shared responsibly. It is our job to not only generate new knowledge, but also to share that knowledge with the public and those practicing on the front lines. In doing so, we inform new practices and improve upon old ones, continually moving toward a world with better health and well-being for all. In CommonHealth, you will find research that approaches the health issues of our day from multiple angles and across many health disciplines. We in the College of Public Health know that health is about more than just a disease or a disability; positive health involves your environment, your state of mind, and your behaviors. Our college embraces this diversity of perspectives, and that will be evident in each issue of this journal. Complex healthcare problems, from pandemics to personal health, to issues of social justice, are intertwined, and they call for equally complex solutions. We are united across our departments—Communication Sciences and Disorders, Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Health Services Administration and Policy, Kinesiology, Nursing, Social and Behavioral Sciences, and the School of Social Work—to improve quality of life for everyone, no matter their zip code or economic status. For many of our students, this will be an introduction to academic publication. The journal will be managed by a team of talented graduate students who will gain invaluable experience, from soliciting and editing articles to publication and promotion. In my time at the College of Public Health, I have seen firsthand the impressive work of our student and faculty researchers, and we in the college are so excited to share that work with a wider audience. In these times, our mission to train the next generation of health professionals and create new knowledge toward building healthier communities is more important than ever. As we have seen over the past month—and as we will see even more in the coming ones—what we do with that information is just as important as the findings themselves. CommonHealth will be an important tool in the dissemination of new knowledge and cutting-edge research.