THE IMPORTANCE

OF COMMUNITY
HEALTH
 COMMUNITY HEALTH

• Community health is a medical specialty that centers on the physical and

mental well-being of individuals in a particular geographical area. This vital
segment of public health includes initiatives to assist community members in
maintaining and improving their health, forestall the spread of infectious
diseases, and prepare for natural disasters. Individuals’ health outcome is
affected by a healthy community; Living in a community that is not healthy
makes it difficult for an individual to be healthy. This is because; community is
an ecosystem or environment where individuals live.
 15 IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNITY HEALTH

Large population residing in rural areas does not have

access to proper care and treatments in the hour of their
need. Elderly people, pregnant women, neonatal,
persons with chronic illness residing in a distant location
from a hospital are always at high risk.
 1. Addressing Health Disparities
• These populations may be
exposed to higher levels of
poverty, homelessness,
substance abuse, and other risk
factors. When a community
health system that takes the
community’s unique
characteristics into account is
put into place to address unmet
needs, the community’s overall
quality of care can be vastly
improved.
 2. Lowering Healthcare Costs
• Community health
providers operate under a
patient-centered care
model, involving patients
in care decisions. This
model allows providers to
steer patients away from
costly trips to the
emergency room and help
them avoid relapses.
 3. Addressing disparities in access to
health care
• Rural and small cities where per capita
income is less, unavailability of hospitals
and shortage of doctors occur, healthcare
inequalities may be extremely pronounced.
Such populations are at high risk of
exposure to extreme poverty, drug abuse,
and several other risks to human health and
life. If a regional health system that takes
into account the particular features of the
community is set in order to meet unmet
needs, the general level of service of the
community can be dramatically increased.
 4. Enacting Public Health

• The holistic model of

community care allows
practitioners to treat and
prevent a multitude of
conditions simultaneously.
 5. Community Health Services and
Resources
• Community health services
providers want to change the
model of care from treating
illness to maintaining wellness.
This challenge is addressed by
tackling patients’ well-being in
a comprehensive way and not
just band-aiding ailments that
will soon resurface without
proper preventive and
maintenance care.
 6. Community Health Centers
• These centers often target
groups facing health disparities
and limited care resources,
including patients living in
poverty, rural residents,
veterans, and the homeless.
 7. Community Mental Health Centers
• The demand for behavioral health-
focused community clinics is strong.
Substance-abuse treatment centers
are also being established at a
growing rate as many regions across
the nation struggle to reduce
overdose deaths.
• A Medicare-designated community
mental health center is defined as
providing screening, outpatient
therapy, rehabilitation, day treatment,
and 24-hour emergency services to
chronically ill patients or those
recently discharged from inpatient
care. States also oversee mental
health resources.
 8. Public Outreach Programs
• Public outreach campaigns include
direct medical care programs along
with educational materials,
advertisements, and social media
posts that encourage healthy
lifestyles.
• Some organizations operate mobile
and pop-up clinics that offer disease
prevention programs within the
community. To extend public
education into all aspects of the
community, health workers will often
partner with local political systems,
social work agencies, and schools.
 9. Careers in Community Health
• Public health workers are
engaged in a broad scope of
activities, including research,
education, program development,
program management, medical
care, and charitable aid.
• Roles can range from leadership
positions to frontline caregivers.
Professionals seeking careers in
community health might work in
medical, educational,
government, corporate, or
nonprofit settings.
 10. Community Health Workers
• Community health workers are also involved
in basic medical screenings or care; informal
counseling; research; and health education
and advocacy. Community health
professionals serve as a bridge between
community members and medical and social
service providers, and often live in the
community.
• To promote healthy behaviors, a community
health worker might focus on helping people
get better access to not only medical
resources but also to transportation, housing,
and nutrition, as well. In addition, a community
health worker develops cultural sensitivity and
establishes relationships with local residents
to create trust.
 11. Program Director
• The program director or clinical director of a
community health program or community
health center takes overall responsibility for
the organization’s goals and
accomplishments. A director improves
access to care in the community, identifying
and filling gaps in care services, and
reducing emergency medical care through
preventive measures.
• Skills that foster establishing rapport with
community members are especially
important for program directors. Program
directors must have strong leadership,
communication, and management skills, in
addition to a foundation in public health
advocacy.
 Research Analyst
• A researcher career in the community health
field entails gathering information about
health issues and risks for specific
geographic areas or populations.
Researchers collect essential information on
socioeconomic conditions, health disparities,
and community health resources’
effectiveness through data evaluation and
direct interaction with local residents.
• A researcher might investigate environmental
hazards, infectious disease risks, or other
regional threats. Community research
analysts provide statistical reports
andenvironmental evaluations to help
administrators create innovative health
advocacy and improvement programs.
 13. Medical Professional
An education or early career in community
health sciences can form a solid
foundation for a career in medicine as a
physician, psychiatrist, or nurse
practitioner, and might even lead the
health professional to practice in an at-risk
geographic area.
A community health worker might also go
on to become a hospital administrator or
government health official.
 14. Earn a Master of Public Health Degree
and Help Communities Grow
• Establishing public health programs that
cater to targeted populations enables public
health professionals to improve the quality of
care for all communities. In order to develop
effective community health programs,
professionals must develop strong
competencies in evaluating health
environments, understanding local cultures,
identifying disparities, strategizing
interventions, and creating trusting
relationships with local residents and
officials. Such skills require a high level of
dedication and tenacity.
 15. Reducing Charges to Health Care
• Social health is an important part in
health policy reforms aimed at
lowering public spending on
healthcare. Public health services
work within a model of patient-
centered treatment, including
patients in decisions regarding
care. This model helps physicians
to direct patients away from
expensive visits to the emergency
department to discourage relapses.
THANK YOU