Community Health 4d2ik

COMMUNITY HEALTH Community may be defined by one of two designations: geopolitical (spatial) or phenomenological (relational). A geopolitical community is a community with defined geographical and jurisdictional boundaries, such as rural municipalities, towns or city communities. The boundary of a geopolitical community generally delineates its periphery (e.g., city limits) and is easily identifiable on a map. Geopolitical communities are spatial designations i.e. a geographic or geopolitical area, which are formed by either natural or man-made boundaries. Natural boundaries being river or mountain ranges, road, or valley e.t.c. Mand-made boundaries may be structures (streets, bridges, railway tracks), political (village, taluk, district, state) or legal (state line of control-Indo-Pak LOC) (Merzel et al, 2003) A phenomenological community on the other hand is a group of people who have shared or likeminded relationships, values, interests, beliefs and goals. The phenomenological community does not necessarily share geographical boundaries as does the geopolitical community. Examples of phenomenological communities include religious groups and social groups. In other words, phonological designations are relational designations. It is often defined in of its feeling of belonging. People in a phenomenological community have a group perspective that differentiates them from other groups. This identity may be based on culture, beliefs, values, common interests, characteristics or goals e.g. religious group, professional group, academic interest group (Israel et al, 1998). From the above the underlying definition of a community is a group of people with a common identity or perspective, occupying space during a given period of time, and functioning through a

social system to meet the needs within a larger social environment. This means that the ‘people factor’ is at the heart of the operational definition of a community. Thus to overcome challenges like ethnocultural characteristics and risk factors while deg a pattern of care for a community, the community health nurse needs to be aware of the composition of each community type, character role and capabilities of the population group. For instance it is common for the client and the health professional to hold different notions of the nature of the illness, unless complete and open communication exists. Furthermore the nurse needs to have a development perspective on the community with regards to the trends, pattern of change and a problem-orientation in which the needs and demands of groups are viewed within the limits of available resources. In conclusion, The relevance of defining communities as geographical units is not unrelated to the many underlying assumptions of the community based approach , the shortcomings, and the difficulties in demonstrating effectiveness seen with many community health programs. References Cheadle A, Beery W, Wagner E. et al Conference Report: Community‐Based Health Promotion —State of the Art and Recommendations for the Future. Am J Prev Med 1997. 13240–243.243. Israel B A, Schulz A J, Parker E A. et al Review of community‐based research: assessing partnership

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Merzel C, D'Afflitti J. Reconsidering community‐based health promotion: promise, performance, and potential. Am J Public Health 2003. 93557–574.574.