Primary Health Care Prepared by Omima mostafa Definition

Primary Health Care Prepared by Omima mostafa

• • • Definition of terms Attributes of Primary Health Care. Elements of Primary Health Care. Principles of Primary Health Care. Strategies of primary health care Role of community health nurse in primary health care.

Definition of terms • Primary health center: Primary health Center is an institution for providing comprehensive health care, e. g. preventive, promotive and curative services, to the people living in a defined geographical area. • Primary health care: Primary health care is essential health care made universally accessible to individuals and families in the community, by means acceptable to them, through their full participation and at a cost that the community and country can afford.

Attributes of Primary Health Care • Accessibility: Primary health care permeates uniformly to reach equitably to all segments of population. • Acceptability: Primary health care achieves acceptability through cultural assimilation of its policies and programs. • Adaptability: Primary health care system is highly flexible and adaptable.

Attributes of Primary Health Care cont. • Affordability: Primary health care is affordable to consumer as well as providers. • Availability: Primary health care is always ready to respond to any demand at any time.

Attributes of Primary Health Care cont. • Appropriateness: Primary health care system evolves from the socioeconomic conditions, social values and health situation of a community, it is quite appropriate from all angles. • Closeness: Primary health center is close at hand to people at their door steps. • Continuity: Primary health service is a continuous service which extends from "womb to tomb" and addresses the changing needs of an individual in all situations of health and disease. •

Primary Health Care (PHC) • Comprehensiveness: Primary health care is comprehensive and the curative needs of the community. • Coordinateness: Primary health care is dependent on intersectoral coordination and community participation.

Elements of Primary Health Care: • Education concerning prevailing health problems and methods of identifying, preventing and controlling them: This emphasizes the fact that in the final analysis it is the individual who will to be healthy or not, to accept health measures, to work with others in creating a healthy environment.

Elements of Primary Health Care cont. • Promotion of food supply and proper nutrition: Nutrition influencing the quality of human life. Under nutrition is one of the main contributing causes to the very high rate of infant and young death. • An adequate supply of water and basic sanitation: Preventable diseases linked with drinking water and lack of sanitation are major health problems in developing countries. They are among the major contributors to high infant mortality and poor quality life

Elements of Primary Health Care cont. • Maternal and child health care including family planning: PHC aims at promoting and protecting the health of children and women of child bearing age, so that all children have the possibility for healthy growth and development and so that the reproductive life of women is compitable with a state of health and wellbing.

• Immunization against the major infectious disease: Immunization programmes seek to reduce morbidity and mortality by providing immunization against the major killer of children. • Prevention and control of locally endemic diseases: Recognition of suspected cases, provide appropriate treatment and referral systems.

• Appropriate treatment of common diseases and injuries: PHC. Aims at prevention of death and disability resulting from common disease and injuries. • Provision of essential drugs: PHC regulate both production and purchasing of drugs and the prescription or usage practices at levels in order to improve both the cost effectiveness and the safety of drug management.

Principles of Primary Health Care: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Equitable distribution: Community participation: Coverage and accessibility: Inter-sectoral coordination: Appropriate health technology: : Referral System: : Control and evaluation:

Primary health care strategies: • Reducing excess mortality of poor marginalized populations. • Reducing the leading risk factors to human health. • Developing sustainable health systems. • Expansion of services and ensuring efficiency. • Developing better relation with the community. • Wearning the people towards comprehensive health care.

Primary health care strategies cont. • Integration of preventive and curative services. • Promotion health awareness. . • Coordination with academic institutions for primary health care development. • Multisectional coordination.

Role of community health nurse in primary health care 1. Community health nurse work with population, community, family, individual. The focus is multiple or promoting health maintaining a degree of balance toward health. 2. Community health nurse focus on assessment of the impact of the socio economical and cultural factors affecting health measures that must constantly be dealt with and take priority in order to make family assume health measures. 3. The community health nurse works with entire spectrum of health and illness conditions from optimal health to minor or severe conditions from acute to chronic illness.

Role of community health nurse in primary health care cont. 4. The community health nurse works in all kinds of setting such as home, school, clinic, industry etc. 5. The community health nurse works in school where primary goal is health education and disease prevention. 6. The community health nurse works in industry is to improve the production and employers' safety.

Role of community health nurse in primary health care cont. 7. The community health nurse is responsible for assisting patients and families to co ordinate health care, which necessitates contact with personnel from health, welfare and other significant community agencies. 8. Community health nurse has responsibilities in education and training of individuals, and others. 9. The community health nurse involves in provision of direct services to patients both preventive and curative at the outpatient, In patient clinics and community.

Major Role of CHN in PHC: 1. Facilitative role 2. Developmental role 3. Supportive role 3. 1. Training 3. 2. Management 3. 3. Supervision 3. 4. Programme implementation 3. 5. Programme evaluation 3. 6. Policy making 3. 7. Programme planning 4. Clinical role.