Community approaches within health psychology Flashcards
Community health psychology
“Theory and method of working with communities to combat disease and promote health”. Community based health promotion can be seen as community as setting, target, resource, agent.
Dimensions of community
A source of social knowledge.
As a basis for common identities.
As a means of marginalisation and social exclusion
As a source of empowerment
Before, take into consideration the extent to which the members identify with the community. The more they participate on community activities the more they identify with it and vice versa.
Community health actions
Even if many strategies have focused in the individual change, community health psychology attempts to work with groups to explore opportunities for change. Therefore, it is very important to connect community health interventions with attempts to promote economic empowerment
Community level approaches to sexual health
- Gave participants the chance to talk about pressing issues felt by them and creates a means of expression which was a central aspect of sexual health.
- Made increase the use of local health services.
- Made decrease the level of unintended pregnancies.
Weaknesses and critics
- Lack of evaluation
A community based intervention often feels messy, fluid, difficult to control and not amenable to a randomized control trial. - Lack of detailed description
Sufficient detail and clarity is a must to enable others to understand what took place, in case the intervention can be replicated - Empowerment – who empowers whom?
People empowering other people to do healthy things…under what principles? - Victim blaming
Not-participating can be interpreted as not willing to become a health individual and therefore be considered as a blamable person - Unexpected consequences
The consequences of an intervention are not always predictable and may entail with possible harm/loss outcomes for some
