Community hospital Health Dictionary

The combination of sciences, skills and beliefs directed towards the maintenance and improvement of the health of all the people through collective or social actions. The programmes, services and institutions involved emphasize the prevention of disease and the health needs of the population as a whole. Community health activities change with changing technology and social values, but the goals remain the same.... community health

An institution the primary function of which is to provide inpatient diagnostic and therapeutic services for a variety of medical conditions, both surgical and nonsurgical. Most hospitals provide some outpatient services, particularly emergency care.... hospital

Services and support to help people with care needs to live as independently as possible in their communities.... community care

The study of health and disease in the population of a defined community or group and the practice of medicine concerned with groups or populations rather than individual patients.... community medicine

A term that includes district nurses, health visitors, practice nurses and school nurses. While customarily based in a general practice or a health centre, they are independent health professionals contracted to the NHS (see NURSING).... community nurses

Formerly entitled consultant paediatrician (community child health), these are specialists dealing with children with chronic problems not involving acute or hospital care. For example, they have a primary role in dealing with disabled children, children with special educational needs and abused children.... community paediatrician

A facility, which may be attached to an acute hospital, geriatric centre or nursing home, providing non-residential care, such as medical care, nursing care, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, podiatry, speech therapy and counselling services, usually during the day.... day hospital

A medical condition for which hospitalization could have been avoided if ambulatory care had been provided in a timely and efficient manner.... avoidable hospital condition / admission

See COMMUNITY CARE.... care in community

A facility that serves patients who do not need acute care or care in another kind of specialty hospital and whose needs for frequency of monitoring by a medical practitioner and for frequency and duration of nursing care exceed the requirements for care in a comprehensive care or extended care facility.... chronic hospital

A group of people, often living in a defined geographical area, who may share a common culture, values and norms, and are arranged in a social structure according to relationships which the community has developed over a period of time. Members of a community gain their personal and social identity by sharing common beliefs, values and norms which have been developed by the community in the past and may be modified in the future. They exhibit some awareness of their identity as a group, and share common needs and a commitment to meeting them.... community

Collective efforts by communities which are directed towards increasing community control over the determinants of health and thereby improving health.... community action for health

See “emergency alarm”.... community alarm

Involves individuals acting collectively to gain greater influence and control over the determinants of health and the quality of life in their communities. Community empowerment is an important goal in community action for health.... community empowerment

See “aid”.... community equipment

Includes health services and integrates social care. It promotes self care, independence and family support networks.... community health care

An ambulatory health care programme, usually serving a catchment area which has scarce or non-existent health services or a population with special health needs. These centres attempt to coordinate federal, state and local resources in a single organization capable of delivering both health and related social services to a defined population.... community health centre

An integrated collection of computer and telecommunication capabilities that permit multiple providers, payers, employers and related health care entities within a geographic area to share and communicate client, clinical and payment information.... community health information network (chin)

The ongoing process of evaluating the health needs of a community. Usually facilitates prioritization of needs and a strategy to address them.... community health needs assessment

Usually managed by NHS trusts, these are a complex variety of services provided to people outside hospital settings. The key parts are the services delivered by district nurses, health visitors and therapists – for example, physiotherapists and speech therapists.... community health services

A trained health worker who works with other health and development workers as a team. The community health worker provides the first contact between the individual and the health system. The types of community health worker vary between countries and communities according to their needs and the resources available to meet them. In many societies, these workers come from and are chosen by the community in which they work. In some countries they work as volunteers; normally those who work part-time or full-time are rewarded, in cash or in kind, by the community and the formal health services.... community health worker

The active involvement of people living together in some form of social organization and cohesion in the planning, operation and control of primary health care, using local, national and other resources. In community involvement, individuals and families assume responsibility for their and their communities’ health and welfare, and develop the capacity to contribute to their own and their communities’ development.... community involvement

An entity which provides comprehensive mental health services (principally ambulatory), primarily to individuals residing or employed in a defined catchment area.... community mental health centre

Intended as a key part of the NHS’s local comprehensive mental health services serving populations of around 50,000, these multidisciplinary, multi-agency teams have been less e?ective than expected, in part due to varying modes of operation in di?erent districts. Some experts argue that the services they provide – for example, crisis intervention, liaison with primary care services and continuing care for long-term clients – could be delivered more e?ectively by several specialist teams rather than a single, large generic one comprising psychiatrists, psychologists, community mental health nurses, occupational therapists, support and (sometimes) social workers.... community mental health teams

A doctor who works in the specialty that encompasses PREVENTIVE MEDICINE, EPIDEMIOLOGY and PUBLIC HEALTH.... community physician

A method for the determination of health insurance premiums that spreads the risk among members of a large community and establishes premiums based on the utilization experience of the whole community. For a set of benefits, the same rate applies to everyone regardless of age, gender, occupation or any other indicator of health risk.... community rating

A scheme utilizing volunteers to visit, spend time with and become friends with an older person in his/her place of residence.... community visitor scheme

The blend of health and social services provided to an individual or family in his/her place of residence for the purpose of promoting, maintaining or restoring health or minimizing the effects of illness and disability. These services are usually designed to help older people remain independent and in their own homes. They can include senior centres, transportation, delivered meals or congregate meals sites, visiting nurses or home health aides, adult day care and homemaker services.... community-based care / community-based services / programmes

A community which provides several levels of housing and services for older people, ranging from independent living units to nursing homes, on one site but generally in separate buildings.... continuing care retirement community

A hospital providing a variety of services, including medicine and surgery, to meet the general medical needs of the community it serves.... general hospital

A hospital which, not only provides high quality comprehensive medical and nursing services, but also develops a corporate identity that embraces the aims of health promotion; develops a health-promoting organizational structure and culture, including active, participatory roles for patients and all members of staff; develops itself into a health-promoting physical environment; and actively cooperates with its community.... health-promoting hospital

See “community-based care”.... home and community-based services; home and community care programme

Schemes providing nursing care, personal care or practical help for older people who have returned home after a stay in hospital.... home-from-hospital / hospital after-care schemes

A scheme which ensures a smooth transition from hospital to home.... hospital discharge scheme

An infection acquired by a patient while in hospital. Because of the high level of antibiotic use in hospitals, some bacteria become resistant

– for example, METHICILLIN-RESISTANT STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS (MRSA). This makes hospital-acquired infections potentially dangerous and sometimes life-threatening, and is one of the developments that is prompting calls for greater care in the prescribing of antibiotics as well as higher standards of cleanliness.... hospital-acquired infection

Home-based specialist medical care used to shorten hospital stays or prevent hospital admission.... hospital-at-home scheme

A hospital that specializes in providing restorative services to rehabilitate chronically ill and/or disabled individuals to a maximum level of functioning.... rehabilitation hospital

A community which provides several levels/types of housing and services for older people, ranging from independent living units to nursing homes, on one site but generally in separate buildings.... retirement village / retirement community

A hospital that admits only certain types of patients or those with specified illnesses or conditions. Examples include psychiatric hospitals and rehabilitation hospitals for the older population.... specialty hospital

A service provided by a religious denomination, primarily aimed at meeting the spiritual and religious needs of patients in hospitals. In the UK, NHS hospital trusts employ both full-time and part-time chaplains, usually representing the mainline Christian churches (Anglican, Free and Roman Catholic). Their duties vary but always at the least involve meeting the speci?cally religious needs of patients as well as of relatives and sta? who may ask for help. Public services in chapels, the bedside administration of the Word and Sacraments, and prayers and radio services are among chaplains’ duties. When requested by patients, chaplains also liaise with representatives of other world faiths.

Chaplains have a broad responsibility for the spiritual health care of all in hospital. They share this with other sta? members, particularly the nursing sta?, for whom the chaplains can be a resource. Chaplains also train and use volunteers from local churches to help with ward visiting and other chaplaincy duties. Much of the time spent with patients takes the form of a listening ministry, helping patients to ?nd their own answers to what is happening to them in hospital and in life generally. Spiritual health can be seen as a quest for the right relationships in four areas – with other people; with oneself; with the world around; and with ‘Life’ itself. The religious person subsumes all that in his/ her relationship to God.

The link between spiritual disease and physical ill-health is well established; the chaplain therefore helps a hospital to provide a HOLISTIC approach to health care. Chaplains also give time to the care of sta? who face increasing levels of stress at work, making use of support groups, counselling, meditation, etc. Chaplains support patients’ relatives facing a crisis, for example, by being with them over the period of a death, and by providing regular bereavement services for those who have lost babies. Some chaplains have a particular expertise in ETHICS and are members of the various hospital ethics committees. A chaplain may have a ‘nonmanagement’ view of the health of the hospital itself, which can be of use to hospital management. (See also SPIRITUAL PAIN.)... hospital chaplaincy

A hospital that provides education for students in the health professions.... teaching hospital

See HOSPITAL.... virtual hospital

Most of the hospitals in the are part of the National Health Service.

Each district has a general hospital providing services that include medicine, surgery, gynaecology, obstetrics, and paediatrics.

Some more specialist services are concentrated in fewer centres.

Many of the ’s private hospitals are nursing homes for the elderly; others cater for nonemergency surgery, obstetric care, or inpatient care for the mentally ill.... hospitals, types of

A hospital, formerly known as an asylum, specializing in the treatment of psychiatric illness.

Most admissions to mental hospitals are for acute psychiatric illness.

The majority of admissions are voluntary, but in some cases detention under the Mental Health Act may be necessary.... mental hospital

A method of treating drug dependence and alcohol dependence, and some personality disorders, that entails patients living together as a group in a nonhospital environment, usually under supervision. (See also social skills training.)... therapeutic community

(CAP) see pneumonia.... community-acquired pneumonia

(in Britain) any of the groups that work with NHS foundation trusts to represent the views of patients and other interested parties in setting the strategic direction of the trust. They are often formed around specific disease categories or patient groups (e.g. deaf patients, children in care).... community interest group

(CMHT) a multidisciplinary team consisting of psychiatrists, psychiatric nurses, psychologists, social workers, and occupational therapists who treat patients with severe mental illness in the community.... community mental health team

(domiciliary midwife) (in Britain) a registered *nurse with special training in midwifery (both hospital and domiciliary practice). The midwife must be registered with the *Nursing and Midwifery Council in order to practise; this requires regular refresher courses to supplement the basic qualification of Registered Midwife (RM). Community midwives are attached to general practices or hospitals, and their work includes home deliveries and antenatal and postnatal care in the community.... community midwife

see domiciliary services.... community services

see Mental Health Act.... community treatment order

see foundation trusts.... foundation hospitals

(HES) (in England) a database containing data on all admissions to NHS hospitals and admissions of NHS patients treated elsewhere. See record linkage.... hospital episode statistics

see case fatality rate.... hospital fatality rate

see nosocomial infection.... hospital infection

a social worker employed to assist hospital patients with social problems that may arise through illness. See also social services.... hospital social worker

(secure hospitals) hospitals for the care of mentally ill patients who are also dangerous and must therefore be kept securely. The level of security can be low, medium, or high. Most (but not all) patients are there compulsorily under a hospital order made by a court according to the *Mental Health Act 1983.... special hospitals

in the USA, a hospital that is owned or operated by a religious organization or community association to provide health-care facilities on a non-profit basis. In recent decades the role of voluntary hospitals has changed from one of caring primarily for *charity patients to one of serving all members of a community. At the same time, the practice of charging higher fees to patients able to afford them in order to compensate for the expense of caring for charity patients has generally been eliminated.... voluntary hospital