Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida, USA.
Department of Global health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA, USA.
BMC Public Health. 2020 Jun 3;20(1):852. doi: 10.1186/s12889-020-09008-6.
Social connectedness is an important predictor of health outcomes and plays a large role in the physical and mental health of an individual and a community. The presence of a functioning health clinic with a community health worker program may indirectly improve health outcomes by increasing the social connectedness of the community in addition to providing direct patient care. This study examines the social connectedness of the inhabitants of three Mexican towns within the catchment area of a healthcare Non-Government Organization (NGO) through a qualitative analysis.
Willing participants were videotaped answering open-ended questions about their community and use of healthcare resources. Interviews were then coded for relevant themes and analyzed for content relating to social connectedness, social isolation, and health.
Respondents reported that having a functioning community clinic had improved their lives significantly through direct provision of care and by reducing the financial burden of travel to seek medical care elsewhere. Respondents from each town differed slightly in their primary means of social support. One town relied more heavily on organized groups (i.e., religious groups) for their support system. Social isolation was reported most frequently by housewives who felt isolated in the home and by respondents that had to deal with personal illness. Respondents that self-identified as Community Health Workers (CHWs) in their respective communities acknowledged that their roles bestowed physical and psychological health benefits upon themselves and their families.
Overall, a long-term health intervention may directly impact the relative social isolation and social connectedness of a community's inhabitants. The social connectedness of the community is an important quality that must be considered when evaluating and planning health interventions.
社会联系是健康结果的重要预测因素，对个体和社区的身心健康起着重要作用。一个功能齐全的健康诊所和社区卫生工作者项目的存在，除了提供直接的患者护理外，还可以通过增加社区的社会联系，间接改善健康结果。本研究通过定性分析，考察了医疗保健非政府组织（NGO）服务区内三个墨西哥城镇居民的社会联系情况。
愿意参与的参与者被录像，回答关于他们的社区和使用医疗资源的开放性问题。然后对访谈进行编码，以确定相关主题，并分析与社会联系、社会隔离和健康有关的内容。
受访者报告说，有一个运作良好的社区诊所，通过直接提供护理和减少到其他地方寻求医疗护理的旅行经济负担，大大改善了他们的生活。每个城镇的受访者在主要的社会支持方式上略有不同。一个城镇更依赖于有组织的团体（如宗教团体）作为其支持系统。家庭主妇最常报告感到孤立无援，还有一些受访者因个人疾病而感到孤立无援。自我认同为社区卫生工作者（CHWs）的受访者承认，他们在各自社区中的角色为自己和家人带来了身心健康的好处。
总的来说，长期的健康干预可能会直接影响社区居民的相对社会孤立和社会联系。社区的社会联系是评估和规划健康干预措施时必须考虑的一个重要因素。
