As its name bespeaks, community health involves community engagement and active involvement coupled with a multifaceted means such as health education, means of addressing health disparities, creating supportive environments, among others. It emphasizes the importance of local participation and collaboration in ascertaining and addressing health risks, with the ultimate goal of improving the overall quality of life and ensuring that a healthier future for the nation.
Needless to state, the government of Ethiopia has been playing a crucial role in mobilizing and effectively utilizing resources, with a focus on strengthening community level health facilities and expanding health extension programs. Despite the efforts exerted to make the sector fruitful, it continues to face challenges including a shortage of healthcare personnel, especially in rural areas.
Having this in mind, The Ethiopian Herald conducted an exclusive interview with Mariyamawit Zemedkun, a Health Officer at Yanet Higher Clinic to have a professional viewpoint regarding country's health status and the initiatives employed to expand healthcare services at national level, centering the community.
She said, "Health facilities significantly benefit communities by improving access to healthcare, enhancing public health and addressing specific social needs. These benefits encompass providing crucial medical services, preventative care and educating the community to promote healthier lifestyles."
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Health facilities can provide specialized care and support for vulnerable groups, such as children, the elderly, women and people with disabilities, ensuring that their healthcare needs are met, she added.
Community-based facilities can tailor their services to meet the unique needs of the population they serve, considering factors like culture, language, and socioeconomic background, she noted.
As learnt from Addis Ababa Health Bureau, it is actively working to promote community health and well-being through delivering comprehensive, high quality health services, in regulated and equitable manner. The Bureau runs various activities aimed at fostering a healthy, productive, and prosperous population. These health initiatives, as to the Bureau, would benefit the entire community by improving access to healthcare services, enhancing the health of the community, advancing medical or health knowledge, reducing the burden of government and other community health efforts.
She said, "Community health programs help addresses disparities by ensuring equitable access to health resources. These disparities include living in remote rural area with limited healthcare providers or being unable to afford health insurance. In such cases, community health centers can serve as primary care providers, particularly in communities where socioeconomic factors limit health equity."
As to her, exploring the importance of community health within the broader context of public health fosters a holistic understanding of how one influences the other and the impact of community-level efforts. Community health is the collective well-being of community members. In addition to living in the same neighborhood or region, some populations may share common health characteristics, socioeconomic conditions, and other influencing factors.
To make a meaningful difference, it is vital to focus on educating residents about the benefits of preventive care and healthy behaviors, providing essential services such as health screenings, social support, and counseling, helping individuals to access affordable medical, dental, and mental healthcare services and advocating for improved care for at-risk populations across the country.
Responding the question regarding the aim of community health, she stated that the goal of a community health provider is to offer comprehensive services that grant communities direct and immediate access to indispensible resources, including medical, pharmaceutical and mental health care.
She further stated that community public health initiatives focus on identifying specific geographic areas with high levels of need and helping those communities overcome barriers to leading healthier lives.
Community health differs from the similar concept of population health management, which considers a population's health outcomes based on a wider range of factors beyond just geographic location.
She said community health is an important element of health reform efforts that aim to lower national healthcare expenses. True, community health and public health are often used interchangeably in deliberations about health care, but they represent distinct concepts with different focuses, scopes, and methods. Both public and community health are important because they play crucial roles in the overall well-being of societies.
Community health emphasizes the health outcomes and needs of these particular groups, addressing issues that have a direct impact at the local level. Public health, on the other hand, deals with the health and well-being of the entire population at the national, regional, continental or even global level. Public health professionals work on a broader spectrum, dealing with aspects such as policy-making, disease prevention, education, and epidemic control that affect large populations, she opined.
Community health services providers aspire to change the model of care from treating illness to maintaining wellness. This challenge is addressed by a comprehensive approach to patients' well-being and instead of band-aiding solutions that will soon resurface without proper preventive and maintenance care. Essentially, it is a shift from reactive treatment to proactive healthcare management.
By combining medical, oral health, mental health, substance misuse, and pharmacy care with support services including health education, transportation to appointments, and bilingual staff, community health resource providers make sure that access to care is not restricted by geographic, economic and/or cultural barriers.
Sister Mekdes Desalegn, a nurse working at Mercy Medium Clinic, a private clinic located around Megenagna) on her part said that community health centers provide frontline services in the behavioral health arena. The demand for behavioral health-focused community clinics is strong. Community health workers are also involved in basic medical screenings or care; informal counseling, research and health education and advocacy.
According to Mekdes, community health professionals serve as a bridge between community members and medical and social service providers and often living within the community themselves. To promote healthy behaviors, a community health worker helps people get better access to medical resources as well as transportation, housing, and nutrition.
Mariyamawit also said a community health worker develops cultural sensitivity and establishes relationships with local residents to establish bonds of trust. Such workers also need to balance activities in client advocacy, public education, and provision of medical service.
To foster a healthy generation, healthcare facilities in Addis Ababa, and beyond, need to focus on preventative care, quality services, and equitable access to healthcare, particularly for vulnerable populations. This includes expanding access to primary healthcare, strengthening the health system and addressing challenges like energy reliability and healthcare waste management, as to the Addis Ababa Health Bureau.
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According to Mariyamawit, healthcare facilities have to fulfill some crucial parameters for a healthy generation. In the first place, they should prioritize preventative and promotive health services, focusing on the early detection and management of common diseases, as well as promoting healthy behaviors.
Second, ensuring quality and safety has to receive due attention. Here, ensuring all facilities provide high-quality, safe and effective care that is responsive to individual needs and preferences of patients.
Third, equitable access needs to be well focused on as it is crucial in fostering the community develop a sense of belongingness and trust on healthcare service providers and even professionals, too. Addressing disparities in access to care, especially for marginalized communities, by expanding services in rural areas, integrating social determinants of health, and implementing policies like Universal Health Coverage (UHC) matters the most, she said.
Mariyamawit further stated that adopting and adapting new technologies, such as solar electrification for remote facilities with a view to improving service delivery and boosting community engagement need to be given wide place. Yes, involving respective communities in health planning and implementation, building trust and promoting ownership of health programs are of significantly useful in making a difference in this regard. Equally, healthcare facilities including hospitals, clinics, labs, psychiatric facilities, nursing homes, among others have to be well taken care of and strengthened as much as possible to ensure the highest quality of care.
