Public Health and Community Psychology

1138 Words5 Pages
Community Psychology versus Public Health Introduction My aim in this paper is to analyse community psychology and public health and distinguish between the two approaches. I will point out their similarities, their differences and also whether or not the two approaches can complement each other. I am going to divide my essay in four sections and conclude my paper by summarising my findings. Definition of community psychology and public health respectively According to Train et al. (2007) providing a single definition of community psychology is difficult due to the fact that it cannot include everything that community psychology consists of. However, Train et al. (2007, p.443) define it as “an attempt to develop relevant theory, research and interventions that take into account people’s socio-cultural and socio-political contexts. As such, it can be defined as the study of the person in context”. Train et al. (2007, p.443) conclude the definition by stating “the main aim of community psychology is to promote social change and alter unjust and oppressive situations”. Public health appears to be something that individuals have difficulty defining specifically, as evidenced by various definitions of public health. A widely accepted definition of public health by Winslow (1920) describes it as “the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting physical health and efficiency through organised community efforts for the sanitation of the environment, the control of community infections, the education of the individual in principles of personal hygiene, the organization of medical and nursing services for the early diagnosis and preventive treatment of disease, and the development of the social machinery which will ensure to every individual in the community a standard of living adequate for the maintenance of health” (cited in Flemming & Parker,
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