Question

In what ways, is primary health care relevant to community health nurses?

How is primary health care different from primary care, health promotion and population health?

What is the role of the World Health Organization (WHO) in primary health care?

Consider what influences the health of a society?

What models help explain health-related behaviours?

What are the responsibilities of the community/public health nurse in promoting health and preventing illness in the community across the lifespan?

Answer 1

Ans) Primary health care is the first level of contact that individuals, families and communities have with the healthcare system. In Australia, this:

Incorporates personal care with health promotion, the prevention of illness and community development
Includes the interconnecting principles of equity, access, empowerment, community self-determination and inter-sectoral collaboration
Encompasses an understanding of the social, economic, cultural and political determinants of health.
Grounded in their scope of practice, nurses provide socially appropriate, universally accessible, scientifically sound, first level care. They work independently and interdependently in teams to:

Give priority to those most in need and address health inequalities
Maximise community and individual self-reliance, participation and control
Ensure collaboration and partnership with other sectors to promote public health.

- Primary Health Care (PHC) and Health Promotion (HP) have been adopted as core health strategies for socio-political interventions. Although the two have a lot of similarities in terms of concepts, they, nevertheless, have their differences. The first difference lies in the population and diseases perspectives that PHC and HP are literally defined as just "health care" and "promotion of health", respectively. The second difference, from a social and political point of view, is that PHC can be expressed as social and political efforts to make health knowledge, health care skills and the entire health service delivery system respond to the people's needs and situations, while HP is a process in which individuals and their environment are geared toward the pursuit of healthy lifestyles. These differences strengthen the unique values of each strategy. HP, which is a form of social mobilization for health, is about catering to the needs of developing countries. On the other hand, the principle of PHC, which is beneficiary-oriented, is universally applicable for both developed and developing countries.

- The World Health Organization, or WHO, elaborates on the goals of PHC as defined by three major categories, "empowering people and communities, multisectoral policy and action; and primary care and essential public health functions as the core of integrated health services."

- Factors influencing health of society:

• Heredity: Genes determine the health of an individual from the moment of conception.
• Environment: Diseases are caused by changes in environment like air, water, climate etc.
• Life – style: It means 'the way people live'.
• Socio – economic conditions: They include income, education, nutrition, employment and housing.

• Education: Your education level can have an effect on how healthy you are.
• Income: The amount of money you make has an effect on your health.
• Housing: Where you live has a significant impact on your health.