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Community health, a field within public health
Public health

Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals." It is concerned with threats to the overall health of a community based on population health analysis....
, is a discipline that concerns itself with the study and betterment of the health characteristics of biological communities. While the term community
Community

In biological terms, a community is a group of interacting organisms sharing an environment .In human communities, intention, belief, Natural resource, preferences, Need assessment, risks, and a number of other conditions may be present and common, affecting the Identity of the participants and their degree of cohesiveness....
 can be broadly defined, community health tends to focus on geographic areas rather than people with shared characteristics. The health characteristics of a community are often examined using geographic information system
Geographic Information System

A geographic information system captures, stores, analyzes, manages, and presents data that refers to or is linked to location.In the strictest sense, the term describes any Information systems that integrates, stores, edits, analyzes, shares, and displays georeference information....
 (GIS) software and public health
Public health

Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals." It is concerned with threats to the overall health of a community based on population health analysis....
 datasets.






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Community health, a field within public health
Public health

Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals." It is concerned with threats to the overall health of a community based on population health analysis....
, is a discipline that concerns itself with the study and betterment of the health characteristics of biological communities. While the term community
Community

In biological terms, a community is a group of interacting organisms sharing an environment .In human communities, intention, belief, Natural resource, preferences, Need assessment, risks, and a number of other conditions may be present and common, affecting the Identity of the participants and their degree of cohesiveness....
 can be broadly defined, community health tends to focus on geographic areas rather than people with shared characteristics. The health characteristics of a community are often examined using geographic information system
Geographic Information System

A geographic information system captures, stores, analyzes, manages, and presents data that refers to or is linked to location.In the strictest sense, the term describes any Information systems that integrates, stores, edits, analyzes, shares, and displays georeference information....
 (GIS) software and public health
Public health

Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals." It is concerned with threats to the overall health of a community based on population health analysis....
 datasets. Some projects, such as InfoShare or GEOPROJ combine GIS with existing datasets, allowing the general public to examine the characteristics of any given community in the United States.

Because health III (broadly defined as well-being) is influenced by a wide array of socio-demographic characteristics, relevant variables range from the proportion of residents of a given age group to the overall life expectancy of the neighborhood. Medical interventions aimed at improving the health of a community range from improving access to medical care to public health communications campaigns. Recent research efforts have focused on how the built environment and socio-economic
Socioeconomics

Socioeconomics or socio-economics is the study of the relationship between economics and social life. The field is often considered multidisciplinary, using theories and Scientific method from sociology, economics, history, psychology, and many others....
 status affect health.

In Africa, community health is studied in three broad categories:
  • Primary health care
    Primary health care

    Primary health care, often abbreviated as PHC, is"essential health care based on practical, scientifically sound and socially acceptable methods and technology made universally accessible to individuals and families in the community through their full participation and at a cost that the community and the country can afford to maintain at e...
     which refers to interventions that focus on the individual or family such as hand-washing, immunisation, circumcision
    Circumcision

    Male circumcision is the removal of some or all of the foreskin from the penis. The word "circumcision" comes from Latin ' and ' .Early depictions of circumcision are found in cave drawings and Ancient Egyptian tombs, though some pictures may be open to interpretation....
     and use of condoms etc.


  • Secondary health care refers to those activities which focus on the environment such as draining puddles of water near the house, clearing bushes and spraying insecticides to control vectors like mosquitoes.


  • Tertiary health care on the other hand refers to those interventions that take place in a hospital setting such as intravenous rehydration
    Rehydration

    Rehydration is the replenishment of water, or water and electrolytes, lost through dehydration.In humans, methods of rehydration include oral rehydration therapy or intravenous therapy....
     or surgery
    Surgery

    Surgery is a medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, to help improve bodily function or appearance, or sometimes for some other reason....
    .


Success of community health programmes rely on the transfer of information from health professionals to the general public using one-to-one or one to many communication (Mass communication
Mass communication

Mass communication is the term used to describe the academic study of the various means by which individuals and entities relay information through mass media to large segments of the population at the same time....
). The latest shift is toward Health marketing
Health marketing

Health marketing is an innovative approach to public health that applies traditional marketing principles and theories alongside science-based strategies to prevention, health promotion and health protection....
 with the centers for disease control (CDC
CDC

CDC is a three-letter acronym that may refer to:Organizations* Cameroon Development Corporation, an agribusiness company located in Limbe, Cameroon...
) taking the lead.

Academic resources

  • Journal of Urban Health, , ISSN: 1468-2869 (electronic) 1099-3460 (paper),


See also

  • Community mental health service
    Community mental health service

    Community mental health services support or treat people with mental disorders in a domiciliary setting, rather than being admitted to a psychiatric hospital ....
  • Prison reform
    Prison reform

    Prison reform is the attempt to improve conditions inside prisons, aiming at a more effective penal system....
  • Public health
    Public health

    Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals." It is concerned with threats to the overall health of a community based on population health analysis....
  • Urban Health Resource Centre
    Urban Health Resource Centre

    Urban Health Resource Centre is a non-profit Indian organization which aims to address health issues of the urban poor through a consultative and knowledge-sharing approach in partnership with government and civil society....


External links