How To Use The Program
Integrating Community Health into Primary Care Practice
I. The International Standard & Guideline evidence-based HEPFDC enables the integration of Primary Care and Community Health at all three WHO “Health Pyramid” levels of care: Hospital, Clinic/Health Center, and Family/Community (Includes Church & School):
1. At the Hospital and Clinic/Health Center level it is used primarily by physicians for individual patient counseling and by nurses for both individual and group counseling. (Teaching at the time of patient need is often the most effective method for behavior change).
2. At the Church/School/Community/Family level it is used primarily by Church or other Community Health Educators, Teachers and Community Health Workers.
3. This remains “The key to community transformation and the success of healthcare systems in both developed and developing countries.”
4. The highly respected medical journal, The Lancet, also reports: “The future of health care generally, and primary care specifically, depends on the integration of personal health care and public health at the level of the local community.”
II. Why is following WHO evidence-based guidelines so critically important?
1. Care provided by health missions must meet the legal requirements and medical standards and practice guidelines of the host country.
2. In nearly all cases, medical and other health related standards for host countries are based on World Health Organization (WHO) standards and guidelines.
3. Many scientific studies are poorly designed and lead to erroneous results. It is also possible to design a study to show what you want it to show. The WHO therefore requires that its guidelines be evidence-based.
4. Very few organizations have the statisticians, epidemiologists and clinical experts to review all the relevant studies to determine their validity and establish evidence-based guidelines. The WHO is made up of 194 member countries and collaborating partners such as the CDC and NIH to accomplish this task
5. WHO Authority: “WHO’s mandate comes from the constitution adopted by member states and the primary audience it serves is composed of governments, more specifically, the ministries or agencies concerned with health.”
For further documentation please see: International Standards and Practice Guidelines and Health Missions
III. The numbered lessons of the written Handbook (Part I) are organized to be used with the numbered Illustrations (Part II):
1. The Handbook format was developed in response to requests by health care providers, community health workers, teachers, pastors and other community leaders to enable them to provide ongoing individual and community health care education.
2. The program was developed for use by non-medical as well as medical people, and can be easily individualized to meet the most important needs of your community.
3. The 8.5×11 inch notebook size illustrations and PDF digital format with mobile phone, e-book and computer screen projection are used by physicians and other educators for smaller groups and for patient-specific teaching.
4. The 11×17 inch illustration posters and PDF digital format with large screen projections are used to provide the most critical community-specific information to larger groups of patients.
5. We also attempt to present the information in the most culturally appropriate manner demonstrating a participatory approach that will most likely result in patient and community ownership, sustainability and multiplication.
6. In addition, optional italicized sections are included to address area-specific diseases such as schistosomiasis and to assist medical teams.
7. See Lesson 50: CONCLUSION—THE MOST IMPORTANT KNOWLEDGE for a summary of the most critical lessons (These are also often incorporated into “Healthy Home” grants and programs).
How The Program Has Been Used by Short-Term Medical & CHE Teams
(See the following for Slide Presentations):
SYSTEM 1: CHE (Community Health Education) The 70%
SYSTEM 2: CHE&S (CHE + Health Screening)
SYSTEM 3: CHE&S + Health Fairs
THE 3 CHE SYSTEMS: FOLLOW-UP
See the CHE tab for additional information
Click Thumbnails for Lesson Example
How To Treat Diarrhrea At Home
TERMS OF SERVICE–OPEN ACCESS & FAIR USE NOTICE
Documents and illustrations created for the HEPFDC are open-access (freely available) and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License…
HEPFDC (www.HEPFDC.org)
Available in:
English/ French/ Hindi/ Hmong/ Indonesian/ Khmer/ Mandarin/ Russian/ Spanish