Tools for Community Health Practice

Tools for Community Health Practice
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Tools for Community Health Practice
Community health education and teaching are critical activities that promote overall health. Building a healthy community requires healthy education where community health workers actively collaborate and engage with community stakeholders to improve overall health, well-being, and wellness. Community health education approaches the concept of health as holistic while seeking to identify health issues and trends in the population. The importance of health education impacts many areas of community health and wellness, including chronic disease awareness and prevention, maternal and infant health, tobacco use and substance abuse, injury and violence prevention, mental and behavioral health and nutrition, exercise, and obesity prevention. It is always crucial to determine and assess the effectiveness of health education programs and their subsequent implementations. Deploying the tools for community health practice is essential in assessing the effectiveness of health education programs. This paper will focus on community health education in terms of tools that assist community health practice. The instruments measure the community health improvement process.
The community practice tools allow the community, educators, and various stakeholders to identify and assess health needs and priorities. These tools will further guide the formulation of community health strategies and provide a blueprint for using performance indicators that constitutes a continual accountable process. Managing diabetes is a team effort comprising health care providers, diabetes educators, diabetic volunteers, diabetes self-management education, family and friends, and community support. Thus, the tools should capture the concept of partnerships and collaboration.
The targeted community or section of the population in community health education is a crucial yardstick underpinning assessment parameter. A healthy community profile constitutes problem identification and prioritization of health education programs. The community profile as a tool presents indicators about socio-demographic features—the health profile aid community in maintaining the broader strategic perception of the community’s overall health status. A community profile tool comprises socio-demographic characteristics, quality of life, risk factors, and health status. These descriptive features inform areas of prioritization on specific health issues. Health profile data can motivate the population to address health concerns.
Various tools help communities to design, implement and assess population-based solutions that enhance health well-being. The tools can create a shared vision, increase community capacity in shaping health outcomes, and strengthening the multi-sectoral partnership. Tools can guide community actions that enhance population health well-being and address healthy equities. The tools can be guided by action such as articulating a case for health equity, satisfying information needs, developing and adopting models for community change, embracing civil rights to boost health equity, securing funding and grants that support community prog...