LOCAL LITERATURE
Despite little consensus about the role and its effectiveness, health care providers are promoted as a mechanism to increase community involvement in health promotion efforts.
The major public health priorities are the discrepancy in access to healthcare services and the resulting adverse health outcomes. The need for strategies to improve access to healthcare services and to support the improvement of health outcomes were recognized by the Institute of Medicine and the Department of Health and Human Services. Health disparities associated with healthcare access and health outcomes from a geographic perspective were documented in the literature. The important factors in the analysis of health are the place of residence, location of healthcare services, and geography in general.
Only a few good quality higher level studies have been conducted even though there is some evidence to establish the benefits of community participation in producing health and health related outcomes, Few, if any, studies have ultimately reveal that community participation provides better health outcomes than no community participation in the same conditions. However, extra attention to the analysis and reporting of the community participation aspect of primary health care and public health interventions is warranted, as absence of evidence of an effect is not the same as absence of an effect. Comparative studies, longitudinal studies as well as randomized controlled trials can improve analysis of community participation.
Tools to measure and analyze it as a collective phenomenon are required in achieving further clarity about the benefits of community participation. To date there has been less interest in this than in measuring more real...
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... social control in health outcomes is beginning to be more thoroughly explored in epidemiological studies (Wallerstein 1993).
Health seeking behavior was affected by social factors, such as the cultural perception of disease causality, equally, therefore patterns of health care use. Providing information in one’s own language, ensuring culturally appropriate care or supporting community networks for prevention and follow up of illness are all important factors in access to care, even though health infrastructures are available, (EQUINET, 1998).
Health sector performance and health outcomes in health promotion programs that depend on behavioral or social change, as well as where the management of disease demands community inputs such as case finding, partner notification or treatment compliance were influenced by the social participation .(Bermejo and Bekui 1993).
Socioeconomic status can limit access to healthcare in many ways. Several Americans do not have the means to receive healthcare although it is readily available to the entire population. A person’s social status, urban community and financial background can all have an impact as to how access to healthcare is achieved. While there are many factors that limit access to healthcare, I will discuss how these particular factors play a role with accessing healthcare services. Why do low income individuals tend to have high risk factors that result in poor health outcomes? What are some of the factors that determine better health outcomes? These are some of the questions that come up when trying to understand the influence of health outcomes. An individual’s socioeconomic status can alter their healthcare choices and status based on education, income, surroundings and/or occupation levels.
Wilkinson, R. G., & Marmot, M. G. (2003). Social determinants of health: The solid facts.
Location is often overlooked when analyzing the public’s health, despite the fact that it plays a major role in a community’s well-being. Differences in mortality, morbidity, and life expectancy vary dramatically both within and between countries. Zip codes may be more important than genetic codes; school files may be more telling than medical files; time spent at work may be more relevant than time spent at the doct...
It is the interrelationships among these factors that determine individual and population health. Because of these, interventions that target multiple determinants of health are most likely to be effective. Determinants of health reach beyond the boundaries of traditional health care and public health sectors; sectors such as education, housing, transportation, agriculture, and environment can be important allies in improving population health. Policies at the local, state, and federal level affect individual and population health. .Some policies affect entire populations over extended periods of time while simultaneously helping to change individual
Communities are sometimes largely unaware that social factors rather than medical ones, such as income, and employment status, shape our health. Our health is also determined by the health and social services we receive, and our ability to attain high education levels, food and safe housing, among other factors.
Health promotion is a multifaceted movement with a core value on respect, empowerment, equity, inclusion and social justice (MacDougall 2002). Aims to achieve holistic health, while it is influenced by medical and social determinants. These determinants which aids to deter...
Rabinowitz, P., (2014). Work Group for Community Health and Developmen Retrieved January 25, 2014 from Internet http://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/participation/encouraging-involvement/identify-stakeholders/powerpoint
According to healthypeople.gov, a person’s ability to access health services has a profound effect on every aspect of his or her health, almost 1 in 4 Americans do not have a primary care provider or a health center where they can receive regular medical services. Approximately 1 in 5 A...
The term “public/community health” often brings to mind sparkling clear clean water and fresh clean air. The reason for that mental image is that both are required in order for one to have good public/community health. In actuality, the term “Public Health” has been defined as “the protection and improvement of the health of the public through community action, primarily by governmental agencies” (Public Health, 2016). However, public health includes any and all actions taken to maintain and improve the general health of a community. Government health programs provide most of the public health services. In addition, many voluntary health agencies receive contributions to battle specific diseases, such as HIV and cancer. These agencies not only provide medical services, they campaign for health legislation, and make important contributions to health education. In the United States, the Public Health Service administers the government’s public health programs. State and local health departments also provide a wide range of
The idea that the successful health and health care organizations of the future will be those that can simultaneously deliver excellent quality of care, at lower total costs, while improving the health of their population is taking hold. The main reason is because of health disparities. Addressing health disparities has been a challenge for decades. This paper will look at a few examples of how health disparities can affect individually, thus the overall health of a population.
Despite the substantial developments in diagnostic and treatment processes, there is convincing evidence that ethnic and racial minorities normally access and receive low quality services compared to the majority communities (Lum, 2011). As such, minority groups have higher mortality and morbidity rates arising from both preventable and treatable diseases judged against the majority groups. Elimination of both racial and ethnic disparities is mainly politically sensitive, but plays an important role in the equitable access of services, including the health care ones without discrimination. In addition, accountability, accessibility, and availability of equitable health care services are crucial for the continually growing
Activities and philosophies that advocate for the connecting of communities with socially sentient beliefs and actions is what have come to be referred to as civic engagement. They are thus individual or collective actions aimed at addressing issues that are deemed to be of public concern. They can be manifested in many ways including; public service, civil activity, service-learning, crusading and advocacy to mention but a few as the list is endless.
Assessing my community was a class project that revealed the core characteristics of my community. In this paper I will attempt to effectively discuss the results of the questionnaire. I will also attempt to compare my data with the overall class data that’s called the aggregate data. Finally I will explain how one of the variables affects us individually and collectively.
Public Health Nursing (PHN) aims to improve the wellbeing of the population by promoting health and preventing disease among all people in the communities (Public Health Nursing, 2013). The PHN utilizes the primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention to help improve the health of the communities. The PHN process is applied to all levels of practice. Interventions are “actions take on behalf of individuals, families, systems, and communities to improve or protect health status” (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2012, p. 191). This paper will identify PHN interventions such as screening, outreach, and referral and follow-up, health teaching, and counseling that was identified in the PHN in the 21st Century project that this author completed as part of the PHN experience. This paper will also identify if the interventions were at the community, system or individual/family level.
A Community can be defined as a group of people who don’t just live in the same area, but also share the same interests, experiences and often concerns about the area in which they live. Often when individuals have lived on a street or in an area for a while they become familiar with each other and the issues surrounding them. Children often attend the same schools and grow up together, again sharing similar experiences. In some instances adults may work together, and quite commonly all community members will share the same doctors, dentists, hospitals, health visitors and other public services and facilities.