Chapter 1

The first chapter of this book introduced many aspects of community health, some of which we had never thought of. Like any good text book, basic definitions were first provided and explained to get the readers on the same track before further exploring community health. Through the chapter health is referred to in many ways. The definition of health varies among people and the context in which it is used. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity.” Yet, the definition many of us like to use for health is “that it can exist in varying degrees and is unique to everyone and the situation they may be in.” (McKenzie, pg. 6) The chapter then discussed the many factors that can affect the health of a community. These factors were listed as the physical, social and cultural, community organizations and individual behaviors of people in the community. It also covered the history of community health, from before 500 B.C. up to the twentieth century. In these centuries before us many actions were taken to better the health of people in those communities. Yet, there is still much room for improvement.
After reading the chapter we all agreed that the history of community health was extremely important for us to acknowledge. We discussed the improvements made over the years and how tremendous they were. Yet, we all said there was still more that could be done. Learning such things as the vaccinations against 15 life-threatening diseases, communities trying to provide safer and healthier water and foods, and health care programs becoming available for everyone really showed us that the government and health organizations in the U.S. really do care about our health and well-being. It definitely puts our minds at ease knowing our health is important to many people.