Community Health

The term community health refers to the health status of a community and to the public and private activities undertaken to protect or improve the health of its members. The public and private activities are divided into three domains: health promotion, health protection, and health services. Each of these is discussed in greater detail below. Health can be defined as the physical, mental, emotional, and social resources for a productive and satisfying life. A community can be defined as a group of people who live under the same regulations, social norms, values, and organizational structure. Community members share a sense of identity and belonging, a common system of symbols, language, rituals, and ceremonies. They also share common needs and a commitment to meeting them. Communities can be based on geography, such as neighborhoods and towns, or they can be based on some other unifying factor, such as religion, ethnicity, or ancestry.

Population health differs from community health in that it describes the health of groups of people who do not represent a community. That is, they do not share a geographical identity, values, or any of the unifying factors mentioned above. Yet these populations as a group share similar health characteristics and concerns. The following are examples of such non-community-based populations that share common health characteristics and concerns: adolescents, adults 25 to 44 years of age, women 50 years of age or older, seniors living in public housing, prisoners, and blue-collar workers. Thus, a population can be based on age, gender, occupation, or any other characteristic. The health status of these groups and the public and private activities undertaken to protect and improve their health constitute population health.

Community and population health are affected by four factors: physical factors (e.g., community size and industrial development), social and cultural factors (e.g., politics and religion), individual behavior (e.g., getting immunized and willingness to recycle), and community organization (i.e., can a community come together to solve a problem).