Community health refers to non-treatment based health services that are delivered outside hospitals and clinics. Community health is a subset of public health that is taught to and practiced by clinicians as part of their normal duties. Community health volunteers and community health workers work with primary care providers to facilitate entry into, exit from and utilization of the formal health system by community members as well as providing supplementary services such as support groups or wellness events that are not offered by medical institutions.
Community health is a major field of study within the medical and clinical sciences which focuses on the maintenance, protection, and improvement of the health status of population groups and communities, in particular those who are a part of disadvantaged communities. It is a distinct field of study that may be taught within a separate school of public health or preventive healthcare. The World Health Organization defines community health as:Environmental, Social, and Economic resources to sustain emotional and physical well being among people in ways that advance their aspirations and satisfy their needs in their unique environment.
Medical interventions that occur in communities can be classified as three categories: Primary care, Secondary care, and Tertiary care. Each category focuses on a different level and approach towards the community or population group. In the United States, Community health is rooted within Primary healthcare achievements. Primary healthcare programs aim to reduce risk factors and increase health promotion and prevention. Secondary healthcare is related to "hospital care" where acute care is administered in a hospital department setting. Tertiary healthcare refers to highly specialized care usually involving disease or disability management.
Community health services are classified into categories including: Preventive health services such as chemoprophylaxis for tuberculosis, cancer screening and treatment of diabetes and hypertension. Promotive health services such as health education, family planning, vaccination and nutritional supplementation Curative health services such as treatment of jiggers, lice infestation, malaria and pneumonia. Rehabilitative health services such as provision of prosthetics, social work, occupational therapy, physical therapy, counseling and other mental health services.
Community health workers and volunteers Community health workers (also known as community health assistants and community health officers) are local public health workers with a deep understanding of their community's health needs and challenges. They serve as a bridge between their community and local health systems to ensure high quality and culturally competent service delivery. They have vocational, professional or academic qualifications which enable them to provide training, supervisory, administrative, teaching and research services in community health departments.
Community health volunteers are members of a local community who have experience and training on the health problems prevalent in their community and care services available, in order to identify and link those in need with local providers. Community health volunteers may be referred to by different titles depending on their local health system; these titles can included lay health workers, health volunteers, village health agents, non-specialist healthcare providers, and village health agents.
Community health volunteers provide basic services such as distribution of water chlorination tablets, mosquito nets and health education material. They will involve or work with registered clinicians when they encounter sick or recovering patients or those with complex or ongoing needs.
Community health organizations are non-profit and non government organization which administers and coordinates the delivery of health care services to people living in a designated community or neighborhood. It helps people understand their status of health or social conditions. Providing advocacy for those who need it and holding groups and individual meetings with people in the community. The vital role is advocating for the rights and interests of their community members. They raise awareness about issues affecting their community by research, dialogues and lobby for policies and programs that address those issues.
Measuring Community health Community health is generally measured by geographical information systems (GIS) and demographic data. Geographic Information Systems can be used to define sub-communities when neighborhood location data is not enough. Traditionally Community health has been measured using sampling data which was then compared to well-known data sets, like the National Health Interview Survey or National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. With technological development, information systems could store more data for small-scale communities, cities, and towns; as opposed to census data that only generalize information about small populations based on the overall population. GIS can give more precise information about community resources, even at neighborhood levels. The ease of use of GIS, advances in multilevel statistics, and spatial analysis methods make it easier for researchers to procure and generate data related to the built environment.
Social media can also play a big role in health information analytics. Studies have found social media being capable of influencing people to change their unhealthy behaviors and encourage interventions capable of improving health status. Social media statistics combined with GIS may provide researchers with a more complete image of community standards for health and well being.
Categories of Community Health
Primary Healthcare and Primary Prevention
Community-based health promotion emphasizes Primary Prevention and population-based perspective (traditional prevention). It is the goal of Community Health to have individuals in a certain community improve their lifestyle or seek medical attention. Primary Healthcare is provided by health professionals, specifically the ones a patient sees first that may refer them to Secondary or Tertiary care.
Primary prevention refers to the early avoidance and identification of risk factors that may lead to certain diseases and disabilities. Community-focused efforts including immunizations, classroom teaching, and awareness campaigns are all good examples of how primary prevention techniques are utilized by communities to change certain health behaviors. Prevention programs, if carefully designed and drafted, can effectively prevent problems that children and adolescents face as they grow up. This finding also applies to all groups and classes of people. Prevention programs are one of the most effective tools health professionals can use to significantly impact individual, population, and community health.
Secondary Healthcare and Secondary Prevention Community health can also be improved with improvements in individuals' environments. Community health status is determined by the environmental characteristics, behavioral characteristics, social cohesion in the environment of that community. Appropriate modifications in the environment can help to prevent unhealthy behaviors and negative health outcomes.
Secondary prevention refers to improvements made in a patient's lifestyle or environment after the onset of disease or disability. This sort of prevention works to make life easier for the patient since it is too late to prevent them from their current disease or disability. An example of secondary prevention is when those with occupational low back pain are provided with strategies to stop their health status from worsening; the prospects of secondary prevention may even hold more promise than primary prevention in this case.
Tertiary Healthcare In Tertiary healthcare, community health can only be affected with professional medical care involving the entire population. Patients need to be referred to specialists and undergo advanced medical treatment. In some countries, there are more sub-specialties of medical professions than there are primary care specialists. Health inequalities are directly related to social advantage and social resources. +Aspects That Distinguish Conventional Health-Care Versus People-Centered Primary CareConventional Ambulatory Medical Care In Clinics or Outpatient DepartmentsDisease Control ProgramsPeople-Centered Primary CareFocus on illness and cureFocus on priority diseasesFocus on health needsRelationship limited to the moment of consultationRelationship limited to program implementationEnduring personal relationshipEpisodic curative careProgram-defined disease control interventionsComprehensive, continuous and personcentred careResponsibility limited to effective and safe advice to the patient at the moment of consultationResponsibility for disease-control targets among the target populationResponsibility for the health of all in the community along the life cycle; responsibility for tackling determinants of ill-healthUsers are consumers of the care they purchasePopulation groups are targets of disease-control interventionsPeople are partners in managing their own health and that of their community
Challenges and difficulties in community health
The complexity of community health and its various problems can make it difficult for researchers to assess and identify solutions. Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) is a unique alternative that combines community participation, inquiry, and action. Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) helps researchers address community issues with a broader lens and also works with the people in the community to find culturally sensitive, valid, and reliable methods and approaches.
Community health also requires clear communication to properly address health issues, disparities, and complications. Health communication is the concept that applies communication evidence, strategy, theory, and creativity to promote behaviors, policies, and practices that advance the health and well-being of people and populations. Communicating health care can be limited by a few factors, which are important to recognize to best apply community health practices. To better understand and provide community health from a provider and consumer perspective, limitations in concepts such as scientific complexity or uncertainty. When using an example such as environmental health, scientific complexity can be summarized with environmental health risks that often involve complex scientific concepts that can be difficult to understand for someone without the technical knowledge gained from specialized training or education. The use of plain language and visual aids helps to simplify complex information and increase accessibility. Uncertainty in community health exists when the scientific understanding of environmental health risks may be incomplete or uncertain. Knowing details about how communities work, specific to the individual, can also play a role in a better understanding as well as offering complete transparency about the limitations of knowledge and ongoing research efforts. Preventative actions must be taken to prevent misinformation in the face of uncertainty as it can cause grave circumstances as seen during the COVID-19 pandemic. Scientific complexity and uncertainty are concepts that can make it difficult to understand the environment and limits coherent communication about population health. Examples of successful community health initiatives can include projects addressing the issues that complicate the subject. For example, promotions for understanding, as well as initiatives working towards already acknowledged health issues in each community.