A community is a group of people who might have different characteristics but share geographical location, settings, goals, or social interest. Examples of communities include people living in the same town, members of a church, or members of a sports team.
Community health is a 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. It does not focus on a group of people with the same shared characteristics, like age or diagnosis, but on all people within a geographical location or involved in specific activity. It is a distinct field of study that may be taught within a separate school of public health or environmental health.
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines community health as: environmental, social, and economic resources to sustain emotional and physical wellbeing among people in ways that advance their aspirations and satisfy their needs in their unique environment.
Community health covers a wide range of healthcare interventions, including health promotion, disease prevention, and treatment. It also involves management and administration of care. Community health workers (CHWs) are often frontline health professionals with knowledge of specific characteristics and developments of the community. They are often members of the community themselves and play an important role in the functioning of community care.
Community health tends to focus on a defined geographical community. Medical interventions that occur in communities can be classified as three categories: primary healthcare, secondary healthcare, and tertiary healthcare. Each category focuses on a different level and approach towards the community or population group. In many countries, 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.
The success of community health programmes relies upon the transfer of information from health professionals to the general public using one-to-one or one to many communication (mass communication). The latest shift is towards health marketing. Some of the factors that influence the health of a community include:
Industrial development; Communities that are industrially developed are more likely to be affected by numerous diseases due to the toxic waste products from the industries that are released into water bodies and the atmosphere and due to congestion of settlement leading to slum development hence contagious diseases compared to areas that are not industrially developed.
Community size; A densely populated or over populated community can easily be attacked by communicable diseases since there is no enough space for people to live in. here, disease control becomes a problem as people live in close proximity to one another. On the contrary, if a community lives on an expansive piece of land, it will be easier to control the spread of disease, and so the community will be healthier.
Geographical location; Some communities are more prone to diseases due to The geographical location For example, communities that are located in swampy areas are more prone to diseases especially during heavy rains, as they are affected by floods which can lead manipulation of disease causing organisms if the water is stagnant, to spread of disease causing organisms like malaria, diarrhea etc.
Environment; A clean environment is very vital to the proper health of a community which minimizes the occurrence and transmission of diseases, unlike a dirty environment which easily leads to outbreak of diseases. In an area where there are no adequate toilet facilities for example, prevalence of communicable diseases will be higher than in those areas where disposal of human waste is adequately managed. Also, in communities where garbage is managed sustainably will have a healthier population than where rubbish is dumped everywhere.
Social/cultural factors; Beliefs, customs or traditions possessed by communities greatly affect the health of its people, for example female genital mutilation (FGM), tooth plucking, facial cuttings, among others, have potential for transmitting diseases from one person to another, and increasing disease prevalence and mortality in the community.
Income levels; A community that is economically well off has low chances of suffering from disease breakouts because they have proper health care and water drainage systems unlike poor community. In communities with low income levels, there are high levels of vulnerability to any disease since management and control of such disease is compromised.
Role of government; Since the government involved in planning, implementing and provision of community services such as water supply, medical supplies and other needs which can directly affect the community health, its activeness or inactiveness in performing its role has a direct influence on the health of the community. Communities in which authorities perform efficiently in delivering health services, will most likely be healthier than those whose government is inefficient.
Community organization; Ways in which communities organize their resources such as taxes which can be very helpful in control of diseases and supply of sufficient and efficient medical care even in times of crisis unlike communities without proper accountability of their taxes which can partly be allocated to the health sector.
Educational factors; Poor education or illiteracy affects the health of a community when people doesn’t have education on how they can prevent themselves from diseases. Example health education on the use of mosquito treated nets to prevent malaria, health education on the environmental hygiene so as to prevent diseases such as cholera and trachoma.
Individual behavior; Community health is greatly influenced by individuals, their personal health, habits etc. And in order to achieve a healthy community, it takes a team work. For instance proper disposal of waste products from and individuals compound, clearing all stagnant water in the compound to prevent harboring of mosquitoes, active smokers to quit smoking to avoid passive smokers thus preventing lung cancer, abstinence from sexual activities and for sexually active individuals to use protection to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDs and STDs etc. Thus proper individual healthy living can greatly promote a healthy community.
References
Goodman R.A, Bunnell R, Posner SF (2014). What is ‘community health’? Examining the meaning of an evolving field in public health. Preventive Medicine. 67 Suppl 1: S58–61.
Merzel C, D’Afflitti J (2003). Reconsidering community-based health promotion: promise, performance, and potential. American Journal of Public Health. 93 (4): 557–74.
Jordan, Joanne (2006). Chronic disease self-management education programs: challenges ahead. Medical Journal of Australia. 186: 84–87.
Weiner, B. J.; Alexander, J. A. (1998). The challenges of governing public-private community health partnerships. Health Care Management Review. 23 (2): 39–55.
Rosenbaum, Sara; Peter, Shin; Emily, Jones; Jennifer, Tolbert, (2010). Community Health Centers: Opportunities and Challenges of Health Reform. Health Sciences Research Commons.