Introduction

Steven L. Arxer

John W. Murphy

pp. 1-13

in: Steven L. Arxer, John W. Murphy (eds), Dimensions of community-based projects in health care, Berlin, Springer, 2018

Abstract

In the field of health promotion, scholars and clinical workers are recognizing community approaches as important to changing risk behaviors and health outcomes for populations (Baker and Brown 1998). An emphasis on community-based programs in health care is, in large part, a result of a gradual shift from individual-level explanations of health behaviors to more holistic views of health promotion. Today, many critics recognize that environmental, social, and cultural factors shape individual and collective health. This "ecological" view presumes a broad set of influences and social-environmental interactions that shape health decisions and experiences in crucial ways.