Definition of Community in Community Health Nursing Assignment

Definition of Community in Community Health Nursing Assignment – Give a definition of what a community is – it is not solely geography, but includes factors of culture, ethnicity, age, etc. Consider principles of community care and critically discuss how a PHN in Ireland could ensure that care provided in her particular community is both inclusive and comprehensive.

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Definition of Community in Community Health Nursing Assignment

Introduction

A community may be defined in many different ways. Community care can also be defined differentially, maybe in relation to a fundamental philosophy, may in terms of imposed limitations and definitions of community delineation.

Discussion

One definition of;community’ is “A social group of any size whose members reside in a specific locality, share government, and often have a common cultural and historical heritage” (http://www.sustainablemeasures.com/Training/Indicators/Cmmunty.html). This notion of community identifies the key elements of community in relation to healthcare that concern healthcare service providers and policy makers. Communities can be defined in terms of their location, but it is not enough to delineate communities in terms of specific areas, because communities are not simply collections of people who are in close proximity with each other by happenstance (Webb, 1986). Communities occur because of features which bring people together, often because of need, such as family support, or because of common interest, such as healthcare support groups. However, not all groups which share a common interest are communities (Trevilion, 1993). Location and purpose seem to be aspects of community, sharing not only common interest but common activities and common purposes, common concerns and common needs (Sines et al, 2005).

Culture, ethnicity, age, gender, sexuality, all of these can be characteristics which define a community, but they could also be different elements of identities and needs within a particular community. For example, it is possible to talk of traveller community health, traveller women’s health, gay men’s health, and the like, and thus we are referring to communities which may exist within geographical communities, or despite geographical boundaries (McMurray, 2003).