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County Health Rankings and the Cult of the Imperfect
Author(s) -
Remington Patrick L.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
health services research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.706
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1475-6773
pISSN - 0017-9124
DOI - 10.1111/1475-6773.12351
Subject(s) - public health , cult , population , library science , sociology , medicine , political science , demography , law , computer science , nursing
Sir Robert Watson-Watt, who developed early warning radar in Britain during World War II to counter the rapid growth of the Luftwaffe, proposed a “cult of the imperfect,” which he stated as “Give them the third best to go on with; the second best comes too late, the best never comes” (Brown 1999). Just as imperfect radar detected incoming German aircraft to protect British citizens, imperfect public health surveillance systems are widely used to measure and monitor the health of populations to mobilize action toward community health.