Learning Journal – week one– Communities That Care

University of the People

Course: HS 3814 - Community Health

Instructor, Jade Wiles

April 12, 2023

Inequality in the access to health services

Introduction

The Communities That Care (CTC) is a system that provides research-based tools, training,

and tactical consultation to help communities work together, which requires wide community

input. This technique is based on public health models which have proven to be successful. It is

an approach used to help reduce young people’s health and behavior problems by identifying

risks and protective factors and promoting the positive development of both children and

adolescents (Hawkins & Catalano, 2005).

In my community, the most prevalent public health issues related to young people are drug

and alcohol abuse, crime, and violence. The risk factors connected to these problems are that

alcohol and drugs are easily accessible, as are violent video games and films. I also believe that

young people take risks due to peer pressure.

Pros for using CTC in my community

There are many advantages to implementing the CTC system such as it is cost-effective and

is a proactive system that can identify, address and prioritize the predictors before adolescents

get involved in problematic behaviors (Hawkins & Catalano, 2005). Some other benefits include

the prevention of smoking initiative, alcohol and drug abuse prevention, and prevention of crime

(Kuklinski et al., 2012), which are the biggest problems we have and are generally interlinked;

young people tend to steal to feed their drugs and alcohol habits and some turn violent when they

are drunk or high on drugs. Furthermore, it is designed to help both the community and

individuals which will benefit the community immensely, because if we can control drug and

alcohol use this will also reduce crime and violence.

Inequality in the access to health services

The methods and programs from the CTC have been tried and tested, quoted as ‘effective’,

listed as ‘best practices’, and can be replicated in any area. This means that my community can

choose the best intervention appropriate from the menu of best practices. This will save both

time and money, which will help reduce the occurrence of problem behaviors more quickly

(Center for Community Health and Development, n.d.).

CTC is inclusive, it involves people from all parts of the community, which includes

people directly affected by the intervention and young people. It engages all the people who are

involved in the decision-making process so that it is ‘owned’ by the community and because the

plan comes from the people in the community, they are more likely to adopt it, support it, and

make it happen (Center for Community Health and Development, n.d.).

It is adaptive so that each community can adapt it to their own needs by mixing and matching

best practices to design a prevention program specifically aimed at the local needs (Center for

Community Health and Development, n.d.), and in my case the risk factors related to drugs,

alcohol, crime, and violence. It also includes room for evaluation and adjustment when necessary

to ensure its effectiveness (Center for Community Health and Development, n.d.).

More importantly, some of the people who have been directly affected by the problem

behaviors such as the young people themselves, recovering substance users, or former gang

members, can speak from experience and can offer insight from their personal knowledge. As it

comes from young people, and not from an adult of moral righteousness, they are more inclined

to listen, take notice, and change their habits (Center for Community Health and Development,

n.d.). Finally, it is known to have long-lasting results because the policies, programs, and

practices are combined into activities and services of existing institutes and organizations. It also

widens the community’s capacity to mount an effective initiative because funding can come
Inequality in the access to health services

from many sources, and is not reliant on one single agency or organization (Hawkins &

Catalano, 2005).

Conclusion

The CTC’s system is an effective way of getting communities involved in eliminating the

problem behaviors of young people and instead changing their habits and getting them positively

involved in their community’s activities, therefore promoting a healthy and safe community for

all (Hawkins & Catalano, 2005).

Word count: 654 (not including the references or front cover).

References
Center for Community Health and Development. (n.d.). Chapter 2, Section 8: Communities That
Care. The University of Kansas. Retrieved January 2, 2020, from the Community Tool Box:
http://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/assessment/assessing-community-needs-and-resources/
conduct-concerns-surveys/main.
Hawkins, J. D., & Catalano, R. F. (2005). Investing in your community's youth - social
development ... yumpu.com. Retrieved April 8, 2023, from
https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/29534087/investing-in-your-communitys-youth-
social-development-
Kuklinski, M. R., Briney, J. S., Hawkins, J. D., & Catalano, R. F. (2012). Cost-benefit analysis
of Communities That Care Outcomes at eighth grade. Prevention Science, 13(2), 150.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-011-0259-9