Understanding the history of community heaath - Essay Example

of the of the of the Community Health Communities can be defined in several ways. Sociologists define community as a place where groups of individuals live together. There may be a sharing of geographical boundaries and every individual who lives in a geographic region can constitute a community. Moreover, a community may consist of several groups of people in a particular geographic region. This is illustrated by government projects such as healthcare projects. These projects are implemented in order to serve people who live in one or more cities, major cities, some parts of a city or they may be targeted at a particular group such as old people, women, children or Hispanics.

These projects are created in order to serve people within a specific geographic region (Organizing a community health improvement initiative). Therefore, the definition of community health depends on the type of project involved and its objectives. Some projects focus on physical health, while others focus on behavioral health, environmental perspectives or socio – economic factors. The application of community health projects depends on the nature of its definition. (Organizing a community health improvement initiative).

Population oriented healthcare is based on the health of individuals and families who make up that community. It is essential in population oriented health care programmes to recognize the environment of the population at which the program is targeted. This enhances the chances of promoting overall health. Therefore, population oriented health care can be defined as interventions that seek to prevent disease and promote health, in order to enhance the overall health profile of a community (Lundy and Janes).

In the early 1960’s people of disadvantaged populations could not access health care facilities. To address the problem, the government implemented the Great Society programs. The cost of healthcare was on the increase. Healthcare for the elderly was disproportionately expensive. Subsequently, Congress implemented the Medicare Program and Medicaid programs, in order to succor the disadvantaged and the poor people. The ambit of these programs was further expanded, so as to include disabled people and people suffering from chronic kidney ailments (Shi and Singh).

Subsequently, in the late nineteenth century, cancer screening and immunization services were included in the Medicaid program. In 1997, the government made a budgetary allocation of twenty – four million dollars to implement State Children’s Health Insurance Program. This program benefits children from low income families suffering from diseases, who are disqualified from the Medicaid program. The US government allocated a large amount of resources, in order to promote community healthcare centers, safety net providers, and health insurance schemes for low income group families and communities.

Therefore, it is the duty of the society to promote quality health and to ensure equitable access of all these programs to all the members of the community, irrespective of their economic or social status (Shi and Singh).Communities that were particular about the presence of health care professional witnessed significant success in providing services, by community health centers in 20th century.These centers implement programs, services and facilities, which address the specific requirements of their users.

Moreover, these centers are very quick in providing such specialized services. Prior to the twentieth century, these facilities were not so widespread or effective. Moreover, medical science was not developed to any appreciable extent. Hence, the best age to live in was the twentieth century. In this period, the government had allocated large amounts for health care, so as to ensure that individuals as well communities are benefitted to the maximum extent possible. This has made me select it as the best period to live in.

Works CitedLundy, Karen Saucier and Sharyn Janes. Community Health Nursing: Caring for the Public’s Health. Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 2005.Organizing a community health improvement initiative. 2005. 1 February 2008 .Shi, Leiyu and Douglas A Singh. Essentials of the US Health Care System. Jones & Bartlett Publishers, 2004.