Summary

In this study session you have learned that:

1. The purpose of developing your community profile is to collect baseline data on health and health-related problems in your community, which helps you in the planning, implementation and evaluation of your health programmes.
2. The data to be collected for your community profile include:
   • community boundaries and locations of key services
   • demographic data (number of people and households, ages and genders, birth and death rates, income and socioeconomic data)
   • epidemiological data on morbidity and mortality rates from different causes
   • social/community needs
   • health service data on provision and access to health services
   • local knowledge, attitudes and beliefs on important health topics
   • behavioural data on patterns of use of health services
   • environmental data affecting health locally.
3. The purpose of collecting health service data is to identify strategies that improve the access of every member of the community to effective healthcare and health promotion.
4. The questions that the community survey can help you to answer include whether individuals receive the necessary health interventions, what determines the probability of an individual receiving a needed health intervention, and what are the barriers preventing the whole population receiving the required health services.