Overview

Philosophy

Community health is an approach that sees the community as an important ingredient of effective public health practice. It seeks to influence attitudes, beliefs, knowledge, and health promoting behaviour, particularly amongst the underprivileged. This approach takes into account cultural norms and belief systems; local networks, support systems and institutions; and socio-economic as well as environmental factors. The objectives of NFI’s community health programme are:    

• Improving the health seeking behaviour of socially and economically disadvantaged communities in rural areas, particularly amongst women and children
• Using community health as an instrument for gender equity and justice
• Contributing to the public debate on community health

Activities

NFI’s community health programme includes the following components and approaches:

• Life cycle approach
  NFI encourages local NGOs to work towards a joint recognition of the determinants of health, as well as joint responsibility for well being in the family. Improvement in the health of women and children requires family and community support. The life cycle approach involves both men and women in rethinking gender roles, knowledge, and needs. It is therefore particularly relevant for addressing issues such as domestic violence, abuse, incest, foeticide and infanticide.
• Working with small groups
  NFI supports local NGOs to improve attitudes, beliefs, knowledge, and health seeking behaviour through the medium of small groups. Separate groups of women and adolescents help to focus on special needs that otherwise tend to remain hidden. Small groups provide an interactive forum for members to identify critical problems, to reflect on underlying causes, to find ways to deal with them, and to acquire the capacity to do so. They also help to establish linkages with public health programmes and facilities. Group initiatives may include micro-finance, health insurance, health banks and other means to help cover the costs of health care.
• Emphasis on communication
  NFI encourages local NGOs to adopt creative and effective communication methods. Sustained interaction with group members and resource persons is a key element. Group discussions, audio-visuals, songs, puppetry and theatre are some of the other means. These may be used to communicate with group members as well as with the larger community.
• Public debate
  NFI brings together community health workers, development practitioners, academicians and public health administrators through networks, workshops, and seminars. It also supports research and advocacy efforts that help integrate community health concerns into policy and practice at the local, regional, and national level.

Future Outlook:

NFI has worked with several good partners from Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Orissa. We would now like to work towards strengthening our existing partnerships and helping our partners to integrate work around community health with elementary education, livelihood and other social initiatives such as peace building. In other words, NFI would like to build upon its experience in community health by using an integrative and cross-sectoral approach.

Programme Officers: Partha P. Rudra ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )
                                     Tauqueer Ali Sabri ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )