Communities in Action

Communities in Action PDF Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309452961
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 583

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Book Description
In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.

Communities in Action

Communities in Action PDF Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309452961
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 583

Get Book Here

Book Description
In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.

Healthy, Resilient, and Sustainable Communities After Disasters

Healthy, Resilient, and Sustainable Communities After Disasters PDF Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309316227
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 532

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Book Description
In the devastation that follows a major disaster, there is a need for multiple sectors to unite and devote new resources to support the rebuilding of infrastructure, the provision of health and social services, the restoration of care delivery systems, and other critical recovery needs. In some cases, billions of dollars from public, private and charitable sources are invested to help communities recover. National rhetoric often characterizes these efforts as a "return to normal." But for many American communities, pre-disaster conditions are far from optimal. Large segments of the U.S. population suffer from preventable health problems, experience inequitable access to services, and rely on overburdened health systems. A return to pre-event conditions in such cases may be short-sighted given the high costs - both economic and social - of poor health. Instead, it is important to understand that the disaster recovery process offers a series of unique and valuable opportunities to improve on the status quo. Capitalizing on these opportunities can advance the long-term health, resilience, and sustainability of communities - thereby better preparing them for future challenges. Healthy, Resilient, and Sustainable Communities After Disasters identifies and recommends recovery practices and novel programs most likely to impact overall community public health and contribute to resiliency for future incidents. This book makes the case that disaster recovery should be guided by a healthy community vision, where health considerations are integrated into all aspects of recovery planning before and after a disaster, and funding streams are leveraged in a coordinated manner and applied to health improvement priorities in order to meet human recovery needs and create healthy built and natural environments. The conceptual framework presented in Healthy, Resilient, and Sustainable Communities After Disasters lays the groundwork to achieve this goal and provides operational guidance for multiple sectors involved in community planning and disaster recovery. Healthy, Resilient, and Sustainable Communities After Disasters calls for actions at multiple levels to facilitate recovery strategies that optimize community health. With a shared healthy community vision, strategic planning that prioritizes health, and coordinated implementation, disaster recovery can result in a communities that are healthier, more livable places for current and future generations to grow and thrive - communities that are better prepared for future adversities.

Maximizing Program Services Through Private Sector Partnerships and Relationships

Maximizing Program Services Through Private Sector Partnerships and Relationships PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Community health services
Languages : en
Pages : 72

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Book Description


Homelessness, Health, and Human Needs

Homelessness, Health, and Human Needs PDF Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309038324
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
There have always been homeless people in the United States, but their plight has only recently stirred widespread public reaction and concern. Part of this new recognition stems from the problem's prevalence: the number of homeless individuals, while hard to pin down exactly, is rising. In light of this, Congress asked the Institute of Medicine to find out whether existing health care programs were ignoring the homeless or delivering care to them inefficiently. This book is the report prepared by a committee of experts who examined these problems through visits to city slums and impoverished rural areas, and through an analysis of papers written by leading scholars in the field.

Leading the Nation's Mental Health System Into the 21st Century

Leading the Nation's Mental Health System Into the 21st Century PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Mental health services
Languages : en
Pages : 44

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Book Description


The Future of the Public's Health in the 21st Century

The Future of the Public's Health in the 21st Century PDF Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309133181
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 536

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Book Description
The anthrax incidents following the 9/11 terrorist attacks put the spotlight on the nation's public health agencies, placing it under an unprecedented scrutiny that added new dimensions to the complex issues considered in this report. The Future of the Public's Health in the 21st Century reaffirms the vision of Healthy People 2010, and outlines a systems approach to assuring the nation's health in practice, research, and policy. This approach focuses on joining the unique resources and perspectives of diverse sectors and entities and challenges these groups to work in a concerted, strategic way to promote and protect the public's health. Focusing on diverse partnerships as the framework for public health, the book discusses: The need for a shift from an individual to a population-based approach in practice, research, policy, and community engagement. The status of the governmental public health infrastructure and what needs to be improved, including its interface with the health care delivery system. The roles nongovernment actors, such as academia, business, local communities and the media can play in creating a healthy nation. Providing an accessible analysis, this book will be important to public health policy-makers and practitioners, business and community leaders, health advocates, educators and journalists.

Community as Partner

Community as Partner PDF Author: Elizabeth T. Anderson
Publisher: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
ISBN: 1605478555
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 416

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Book Description
"This user-friendly text is presented as a handbook for students and practicing nurses who work with communities to promote health. Community as Partner focuses on the essentials of practice with the community. Students will find this text helpful for the many examples of working with the community as partner. For over 20 years and five editions, this textbook has served undergraduate, RN to BS, and RN to MS students and graduate students alike as a framework for professional nursing practice in the community. Our intention is to keep the text basic and accessible to all who practice in the community. Using this text with distance education and virtual learning with Internet resources will enrich practice in any community. This sixth edition continues the philosophy of the authors by strengthening the theoretical base with new chapters on globalization and rural health. All other chapters have been revised and updated from the fifth edition. We continue with a series of chapters that takes the reader through the entire nursing process by using a real-life community as our example. The urban example is enhanced and expanded throughout the remainder of the book by selected aggregates which serve as exemplars of working with the community as partner as well. " --Provided by publisher.

Improving Health in the Community

Improving Health in the Community PDF Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309055342
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 497

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Book Description
How do communities protect and improve the health of their populations? Health care is part of the answer but so are environmental protections, social and educational services, adequate nutrition, and a host of other activities. With concern over funding constraints, making sure such activities are efficient and effective is becoming a high priority. Improving Health in the Community explains how population-based performance monitoring programs can help communities point their efforts in the right direction. Within a broad definition of community health, the committee addresses factors surrounding the implementation of performance monitoring and explores the "why" and "how to" of establishing mechanisms to monitor the performance of those who can influence community health. The book offers a policy framework, applies a multidimensional model of the determinants of health, and provides sets of prototype performance indicators for specific health issues. Improving Health in the Community presents an attainable vision of a process that can achieve community-wide health benefits.

Assessing Mental Health and Psychosocial Needs and Resources

Assessing Mental Health and Psychosocial Needs and Resources PDF Author: World Health Organization
Publisher:
ISBN: 9789241548533
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) is a term used to describe a wide range of actions that address social, psychological and psychiatric problems that are either pre-existing or emergency-induced. These actions are carried out in highly different contexts by organizations and people with different professional backgrounds, in different sectors and with different types of resources. All these different actors--and their donors--need practical assessments leading to recommendations that can be used immediately to improve people's mental health and well-being. Although a range of assessment tools exist, what has been missing is an overall approach that clarifies when to use which tool for what purpose. This document offers an approach to assessment that should help you review information that is already available and only collect new data that will be of practical use, depending on your capacity and the phase of the humanitarian crisis. This document is rooted in two policy documents, the IASC Reference Group s (2010) "Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Humanitarian Emergencies: What Should Humanitarian Health Actors Know?" and the "Sphere Handbook's Standard on Mental Health" (Sphere Project, 2011). It is written primarily for public health actors. As the social determinants of mental health and psychosocial problems occur across sectors, half of the tools in the accompanying toolkit cover MHPSS assessment issues relevant to other sectors as well as the health sector.

Community Mental Health

Community Mental Health PDF Author: Graham Thornicroft
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 111995214X
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 233

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Book Description
There are wide inconsistencies between, and even within, countries in how community-orientated care is defined and interpreted. The analysis presented in this book take as a starting point an evidence-based balanced care model in which services are provided in community settings close to the populations served, with hospital stays being reduced as far as possible, usually located in acute wards in general hospitals. The surprising conclusion from the research is that the same problems arise in all countries, regardless of resource status, and thus the recommendations of this book apply to mental health provision everywhere. This book reviews the implementation of community-orientated care using the balanced care model. It summarizes the steps, obstacles and mistakes that have been encountered in the implementation of community mental health care worldwide and presents guidelines on how to avoid them. It proposes realistic and achievable recommendations for the development and implementation of community-orientated mental health care over the next ten years. These guidelines will be of practical use to psychiatrists and other mental health and public health practitioners at all levels worldwide, including policy makers, commissioners, funders, non-governmental organisations, service users and carers. A core message of the book is that the mental health sector will more powerfully advocate for better services in future through strong and unified alliances, especially with powerful representation from consumer/service user and carer groups. Community-orientated care draws on a wide range of practitioners, providers, care and support systems (both professional and non-professional), though particular components may play a larger or lesser role in different settings depending on the local context and the available resources, especially trained staff. Research by a WPA task force has demonstrated that most of the challenges are common and global, but with local variations. The book is therefore relevant to psychiatrists and mental health workers in developed countries who are trying to deliver better health care on reduced budgets and for those in the developing economies who are in the position to modernise their mental health care. It provides clear, concise guidance on policy and practice decisions, learning from what has and has not worked in regions in the world. The book contains many tables documenting the evidence, supported by an essential reference list, and a Key Points summary for each chapter. Highly Commended in the Psychiatry section of the 2012 BMA Book Awards.