Adopting Community Health Principles in Veterinary Practice

Erwin W Hohn

doi:10.13189/ujph.2016.040205

Abstract

One Health offers the veterinary community the opportunity to re-evaluate the paradigms underpinning animal health care delivery systems. To be more effective animal health care delivery, especially as traditionally viewed by small animal practitioners, needs to be broadened and move away from a primarily technologically led clinical curative approach. Improved access to clinical care does not result in improvements in the health status of populations. The distinction between Primary (Medical) Care and Primary Health Care (PHC) is made. An overview of Community Health and, in particular PHC, as practiced in human health care is provided. For this approach to have relevance and be impactful on service users (and communities), the undergraduate curriculum needs to be community oriented and community based. Veterinary Community Health (including veterinary PHC) needs to become a recognised specialty and provide the overriding context within which the more traditional specialties are presented to the student. A model that will allow for cost effective, holistic and integrated animal health care is proposed. This provides opportunities for the profession to expand it role and influence as well as collaborate with allied stakeholders.

Highlights

Communities, rich and poor, urban and rural, largely suffer from diseases that are, in the long term, related to their socio-economic predicament 1
Given the fact that Community Health and Primary Health Care (PHC) are becoming more important and popular in human health care, and the fact that studies by Eckersley et al have suggested that disease profiles in animal populations appear to be associated with the socio-economic status of their owners 2, it does not seem unreasonable to consider modifying aspects of this approach to animal health care systems
To effectively transpose of aspects of PHC into animal health care delivery systems it has been suggested that veterinary students receive exposure to this philosophy during their undergraduate training

Summary

Introduction

Communities, rich and poor, urban and rural, largely suffer from diseases that are, in the long term, related to their socio-economic predicament 1 These conditions are preventable at a relatively low cost 1. Context frames how we see define problems, formulate hypotheses and even how we develop and implement solutions In science this is probably best seen using light theory. Irrespective of how scientific our approach we, as observers, are susceptible to Fundamental Attribution Error This means that when it comes to interpreting outcomes we tend to underestimate the importance of the situation and context. As veterinarians (especially clinicians) it is important to consider who we use as our reference group This determines the paradigmal context within which we practice our profession.

A Contextual Framework

Primary Health Care - An Overview

Considerations in Implementing a Veterinary Primary Health Care System

Findings

Conclusions