Community Health: Keeping Our Communities Healthy by Spreading Knowledge

Introduction

The spread of knowledge is one of the most important activities in the promotion and implementation of community health. For any form of health-related knowledge to reach the community, communication plays a very critical role. Communication starts right from the beginning of all programs that are geared towards the management of disasters or health crises in terms of preparedness before they occur and response when they do occur. The spread of health-related knowledge can as well be referred to as health education. Health education is very general and may involve different topics that are relevant to the needs of a particular community, for instance, prevention of communicable diseases like cholera, STIs, malaria among others, safe construction of houses in flood-prone areas, conduction of first aid in the event of an accident before the arrival of medical response teams to mention but a few. When such knowledge is imparted to members of the community, their health is most likely to improve given that many diseases or health-threatening incidences affect people due to ignorance or lack of knowledge (Navarro, Voetsch, Liburd, Bezold & Rhea, 2006).

The promotion of hygiene as an aspect of health can never be possible if the correct knowledge on the same is not properly disseminated. The spread of health knowledge is not only aimed at creating awareness but to boost the capacity of the community to be able to improve and take care of their health. Knowledge of health issues can be applied by community members by utilizing the environment properly through protecting it and keeping it safe from all health hazards. Important to note is that knowledge in health helps members of the community to change their behavior and begin to appreciate and embrace healthy practices in their homes, schools, places of work and others. The idea behind the spread of knowledge in community health is based on the fact that the improvement of health in the community can only be successful if all stakeholders in the industry which include the government, community members, and organizations are directly involved (Chapman, Schnirer & Stewart, 2006).

Diffusion is an old theory that was used to explain the process of spreading ideas and knowledge. It has however graduated to knowledge dissemination which apart from the spread of knowledge also influences health policy making and adoption of safety practices. The assumption here is that all health decision that people make are guided by the amount of knowledge that they have on the same. Experts in healthcare are at a better place of disseminating such knowledge to members of the community. Studies have confirmed that the spread of knowledge in health followed by its correct interpretation and application has a positive impact on social support and improvement of health awareness and services (Green, Ottoson, García & Roditis, 2014).

More research, however, needs to be conducted on the effectiveness of the spread of health-related knowledge. There has been a feeling that it would be more prudent to make knowledge dissemination more adaptable and flexible by allowing it to concentrate on function and results rather than just form. This, therefore, means that all efforts towards the spread of knowledge must focus on the proper utilization of that knowledge and formulation of relevant policies that will give good results in the realization of community health (Chapman et al., 2006). It is not possible to completely tackle health problems in the community, but at least an improvement in the health of community members and the reduction of deaths that may result from avoidable illness is a step worth making.