Introduction to Community
Health
Imran Ahmed Abdulkadir
BSPH, MSc. PTH
Feb, 2018

Concept of Health
• Health is a common term in most cultures and
most people find it difficult to define.
• In fact all communities have their concepts of
health.
• The oldest definition of health is:
“Absence of disease”

Changing Concept of Health
Biomedical concept
• Traditionally, health has
been viewed a “Absence
of disease”, and if one
was free from disease,
then the person was
considered healthy.
Ecological concept
• Ecologists viewed health
as “dynamic equilibrium
between man and his
environment.

Changing Concept cont.
Psychosocial concept
• Contemporary development
in social sciences revealed
that health is not a
biomedical phenomenon,
but one which is influenced
by social, psychological,
cultural, economic and
political factors of the
people concerned.
Holistic concept
• This model is a synthesis
of all the above concepts.
It implies that all sectors
of the society have an
effect on health.

WHO definition of health
• “A state of complete physical, mental, and
social well-being and not merely the absence
of disease or infirmity”.
• Recently this statement has been expanded to
include the ability to lead a “socially and
economically productive life”.
• limitations of this definition………

• Some argue that health cannot be defined as
a 'state' at all, but must be seen as a process
of continuous adjustment to the changing
demands of living and of the changing
meanings we give to life.
• It is a dynamic State.

New philosophy of health
• In recent years a new philosophy of health, may be stated
as:
• Health is fundamental human right.
• Health is the essence of productive life.
• Health is intersectoral.
• Health is an integral part of development.
• Health is central to the concept of quality of life.
• Health involves individuals, state & international
responsibility.
• Health is a world-wide social goal.

Determinants of Health
• Many factors combine together to affect the health of
individuals and communities.
• Whether people are healthy or not, is determined by
their circumstances and environment.
• Common determinants of health:
• Genetic factors (biological)
• Environmental factors
• Behavioral and socio-cultural
• Health care services – utilization

Genetic factors (biological)
• Genetic makeup (heredity)
• It is permanent and cannot be altered
• Transmitted by hereditarily.
• No treatment

Environmental factors
• Environmental factors that could influence health include:
• Physical environment and life support: water, air, soil, and
climate etc.
• Biological factors: plants, animals, microorganisms and
Biological waste.
• Chemical factors: industrial wastes, agricultural wastes, air
pollution, etc.
• The social and economic environment: income level,
access to health care, housing , education, occupation and
politics etc.
• Socio-cultural: beliefs and traditions; FGM

Behavioral
• Behavioral (life style)
• Recently life style by itself received an increased
amount of attention as a major determinant of
health.
• Life style of individuals affects their health
directly or indirectly.
• For example: Cigarette smoking, chewing chad,
eating contaminated food, Unsafe sexual practice,
etc.

Health care services – utilization
• Health care organizations in terms of their resource in
human power, equipments, money and so on determine
the health of people.
• Availability and utilization of health services
• Should include comprehensive services
• Need based essential
• Accessible and affordable cost
• Socially acceptable
• Equitably distributed
• Quality of care.

What is Public Health?
• The sum of all official or governmental efforts
to promote, protect, and preserve the
people’s health.
• “The activities that ensure conditions in which
people can be healthy. These activities include
community wide efforts to identify, prevent,
and combat threats to the health of the
public. “

Public health
• Public health is defined as the science and art
of preventing diseases, prolonging life,
promoting health and efficiencies through
organized community effort.

Different terms of Public Health
• The following are different terms of Public
Health:
• Preventive Medicine
• Community Health
• Social Medicine
• Community Medicine

Preventive Medicine
(Fayo-dhowr)
• Preventive medicine is a part of public health
and not a substitution to it.
• It is a science and art of health promotion,
disease prevention, disability limitation and
rehabilitation.
• Its objective is to prevent causative agents
from its transmission and thereby halting the
disease process.

Social Medicine
• It is the study of man as the social being in his total
environment.
• Its focus is on the health of society as a whole
• It stresses the importance of social factors in the
etiology of a disease.
• It plays a major role in developing epidemiological
methods and their application to the investigation of a
disease.
• Therapy consists of social and political actions for the
betterment of conditions of life of a man.

Community Medicine
• It is the field concentrated on the study of health and
disease in the population of defined community or
group.
• Its goal is to identify the health problems and needs of
defined population, and to plan, implement, and
evaluate the extent to which health measures
effectively meet these needs.
• The practice of community medicine is concerned with
group or population rather than individual patient.

Community Health
• Traditionally, a community has been thought of as
geographic area with specific boundaries, for example,
a neighborhood, city, country or state.
• However, in the context of community health, a
community is “a group of people who have common of
characteristics; communities can be defined by
location, ethnicity, age, occupation, interest in
particular problems or outcomes, or common bonds.
• Community is “a collective body of individuals
identified by common characteristics such as
geography, interests, concerns, or values.”

Community health cont..
• The term community health in some countries has
replaced the terms public health, preventive medicine
and social medicine.
• Community health refers to the health status of a
defined group and the actions and conditions to
promote, protect and preserve their health.
• Community health is the part of medicine which is
concerned with the health of the whole population and
the prevention of diseases from which it suffers.

Clinical Medicine vs. Community Health
• Community health refers to the health status
of a defined group of people and the
governmental actions and conditions to
promote, protect and preserve their health.
• Clinical medicine is concerned with diagnosing
and treating diseases in individual patients.

Global health
• Global health describes “health problems, issues, and
concerns that transcend national boundaries, may be
influenced by circumstances or experiences in other
countries, and are best addressed by cooperative
actions and solutions.”
• Much of the rise in concern about global health
problems comes from the speed of international travel
and how easy it is for people who may be infected with
a disease to cross borders into another country.

Factors that affect the health of a community
• There are a great many factors that affect the health of
a community. as a result, the health status of each
community is different.
• These factors may include:
• Physical factors
• Geography, environment, community size, and
industrial development.
• Social and cultural factors
• Beliefs and traditions, social norms
• Socio-economic status economy politics
• Individual behaviors

The Essential community Health Services
1. Monitor the health status of the community.
2. Investigate and diagnose health problems and hazards.
3. Inform and educate people regarding health issues.
4. Mobilize partnerships to solve community problems.
5. Support policies and plans to achieve health goals.
6. Enforce laws and regulations to protect health and safety.
7. Link people to needed personal health services.
8. Ensure a skilled, competent public health workforce.
9. Evaluate effectiveness, accessibility and quality of health
services.
10.Research and apply innovative solutions.

Thanks