Community Involvement In Health Development

In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.

An evidence-based analysis of the opportunities and challenges of moving towards more person-centred health systems.

Published in 1998. This book brings together both the history of community involvement and health and ideas and proposals for further developing the potential of this approach. It explores the roots and branches of community involvement, drawing together different strands from within and outside the NHS. It explores the impact of the rapid changes in the NHS and in local government on local communities and patients and ways in which current policy can enhance and enable the general public to be more involved in their own health and effective service provision. Ideas, models and case studies are used to illustrate practical ways in which skills and knowledge can be enhanced.

A wide-ranging analysis of community involvement in health development (CIH) as a concept, a strategy, and an ongoing experiment in the search for ways to improve health care for the majority of the world's population. Noting that discussions of health-sector reform have given CIH greater prominence, the book aims to provide a resource of ideas and practical methods for all health professionals interested in applying a participatory approach to development work. The book has seven chapters. The first traces the historical evolution of the concept of CIH and discusses its place within the broader areas of development theory and practice. The next three chapters provide detailed case studies of recent experiences with CIH in Bolivia, Nepal, and Senegal. Chapter five, on health development structures, draws on data from nine countries included in a study, which explored the potential of civil society organizations to promote and facilitate CIH. Results of the study confirm the considerable potential of health development structures to bring together both different sectors and different levels of government. Chapter six discusses the need to develop an appropriate methodology of participatory development. Lessons from the case studies are used to identify a set of operational principles for community action for health. The final chapter draws a number of important conclusions concerning ways in which the concept of CIH can move closer to practical reality. Many past failures are attributed to the unrealistic expectation that participatory efforts would make it possible to achieve more with less money.

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How do communities protect and improve the health of their populations? Health care is part of the answer but so are environmental protections, social and educational services, adequate nutrition, and a host of other activities. With concern over funding constraints, making sure such activities are efficient and effective is becoming a high priority. Improving Health in the Community explains how population-based performance monitoring programs can help communities point their efforts in the right direction. Within a broad definition of community health, the committee addresses factors surrounding the implementation of performance monitoring and explores the "why" and "how to" of establishing mechanisms to monitor the performance of those who can influence community health. The book offers a policy framework, applies a multidimensional model of the determinants of health, and provides sets of prototype performance indicators for specific health issues. Improving Health in the Community presents an attainable vision of a process that can achieve community-wide health benefits.