Community Medicine Cheat Sheet
Community Care Is a Connected System
Community health care in India: ASHA, ANM, Community Health Officer, Health and Wellness Centres and the five service functions for NEET-PG and FMGE prep.
MedNext Academy | 3 min read
Community Care Is a Connected System
Community health care in India: ASHA, ANM, Community Health Officer, Health and Wellness Centres and the five service functions for NEET-PG and FMGE prep.
Community health care delivers promotive, preventive, curative, rehabilitative and palliative services for a defined population through a connected chain of ASHA, ANM, Community Health Officer and Primary Health Centre platforms.
High-yield lines
- Community health care holds the health team accountable for everyone in a defined area, not only those who attend a facility.
- The five service functions of community care are promotive, preventive, curative, rehabilitative and palliative.
- Community-oriented primary care follows a six-step cycle: define the community, identify problems, prioritise, intervene, implement and evaluate.
- The ASHA is the household-level link worker who maintains family folders, tracks immunisation and antenatal due lists and escorts women for institutional delivery under Janani Suraksha Yojana.
- The Auxiliary Nurse Midwife or Multi-Purpose Health Worker manages the sub-centre or Health and Wellness Centre catchment for antenatal care, immunisation and outreach.
- The Community Health Officer is a cadre introduced under Ayushman Bharat holding a BSc Community Health degree and managing 12 standardised service packages at the Health and Wellness Centre.
- The Anganwadi Worker delivers growth monitoring, supplementary nutrition, preschool education and referral of malnourished children under ICDS.
- The Village Health, Sanitation and Nutrition Committee supports local planning and use of untied funds for community health action.
- Continuity of care links services across the life course from newborn to elderly and across levels from community worker to district hospital.
- Community agency means residents help identify problems and share accountability rather than passively receiving services.
- The Community-Based Assessment Checklist is used by the Community Health Officer to screen for non-communicable disease risk.
- Home-based palliative care, caregiver training and morphine availability at Primary Health Centre level extend care to end-of-life needs.
- Failure at the ASHA level typically shows up as missed pregnancies, immunisation defaulters and tuberculosis treatment dropouts.
- Health and Wellness Centres under Ayushman Bharat form the cornerstone of comprehensive primary care in India.
Mapped competency codes
- CM17.1
- CM17.2
- CM17.3
- CM17.4
- CM17.5
Continue into the full chapter
This summary maps to CM17-health-care-of-the-community.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the five functions of community health care?
Promotive, preventive, curative, rehabilitative and palliative services, all delivered for a defined population with equity and continuity.
What is the role of the Community Health Officer?
The Community Health Officer, a cadre introduced under Ayushman Bharat with a BSc Community Health degree, provides comprehensive primary care at the Health and Wellness Centre, manages 12 service packages and supervises ASHAs.
What are the steps of community-oriented primary care?
Define the community, identify its health problems, prioritise them, develop a targeted intervention, implement it and evaluate the impact on the whole population.
Which worker is the household-level link in Indian community care?
The ASHA maintains family folders, tracks immunisation and antenatal due lists, supports DOTS and escorts women for institutional delivery under Janani Suraksha Yojana.
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