Community Action for Health

Abstract

In the previous chapter the role of the primary health care team in promoting the health of their community was examined and some innovative strategies were suggested for PHCTs to be much more active in the community. In this chapter we explore how the community can act to promote its own health. Community action for health is based on the premise that health chances and health choices are shaped to a great extent by the social, political and economic conditions in which people live. The ability of individuals to control and shape these wider structures is limited. Community action involves individuals in collective activity to change the socio-economic environment and to redistribute power and resources in order to enhance the health chances of hitherto disadvantaged groups. It requires the participation of local people in working together to promote health: their own and that of others, and is based on the principles of collectivism rather than individualism. Within a collectivist ideology individuals combine and take responsibility for each other’s health and well-being. The individual is not submerged or lost in the collective but is located within it rather than existing in isolation and competition with others (Collins, 1997). A more individualistic approach lays responsibility firmly on individuals. They, therefore, may need to compete with others to improve their own health and well-being.