Community health assessment: diagnosis and prescription

Community health assessments are ideally a joint effort by all the major health care providers in the community, working in concert with local government, business, and concerned community groups. A noble activity, no doubt, but clearly a lot of trouble. Physicians, whose potential to contribute to community assessments is obvious, frequently avoid them. Whether in management or clinical practice, they ask: Is this really worth my time? Will it make any difference? Isn't there a better way? But, rightly or wrongly, physicians often have a disproportionate amount of influence on the community assessment process. That influence, whether you attribute it to respect, credibility, or power, adds value to the process. The most important quality the physician brings to the process is genuine concern for his or her patients that generalizes to the health of the entire community.