Community Health Assessment: The Man-Environment Interaction
Titel:
Community Health Assessment: The Man-Environment Interaction
Auteur:
West, Marilyn
Verschenen in:
Journal of community health nursing
Paginering:
Jaargang 1 (1984) nr. 2 pagina's 89-97
Jaar:
1984-06-01
Inhoud:
Nursing needs to define the patterns of health in a community in terms that humanize and personalize the man-environment interaction. Community assessments often rely on quantitative methods to provide statistical data that allow only a superficial insight into the lives of the community members. Seldom is the qualitative aspect considered-those factors that enter into daily living and become the basis for the continuing development of man and the community. The unique focus of nursing includes an understanding of the development of human relationships within the community setting. The nurse is able to observe the man-environment interaction and describe this developmental process in terms of levels of wellness. In this manner, the community health assessment allows for the emergence of a definitive pattern: one that reflects the health of its citizens, is unique for a particular aggregate, identifies needs, and directs nursing interventions. High level wellness is the ultimate goal of nursing for the population as a whole. Community nurse practitioners are charged to consider the totality of man's existence as it is influenced by physical, mental, and social factors (ANA, 1983). Donaldson and Crowley (1978) list one general theme of inquiry in nursing to be the patterning of human behavior in continuous interaction with the environment. Functional and dysfunctional patterns exist in a community. Nursing must focus on these patterns to permit the nursing diagnosis of the man-environment interaction (Gordon, 1982). In an effort to collect data regarding these patterns, an assessment tool for community health was developed.
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