Community Health and Disease Prevention

Running head: COMMUNITY HEALTH AND DISEASE PREVENTION 1
Community Health and disease prevention
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COMMUNITY HEALTH AND DISEASE PREVENTION 2
Introduction
Every person around us in every community or society has a huge role to play as far as
our health status and condition is concerned. Lifestyle, level of education, and other socio-
economic conditions also influence our health status in the community. Therefore, a significant
number of programs and pieces of training have been developed by the healthcare sector to
prevent diseases and promote healthy living among the people in society. This paper also focuses
on preventing the spread of chronic diseases around different communities in Australia and other
parts of the world.
Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne disease that is painful and debilitating. It is caused by
dengue viruses and other viruses that belong to the same class as dengue viruses. For example,
the virus that causes yellow fever and West Nile infection is related to the dengue virus, which
causes dengue fever. Furthermore, tropical areas in Australia and other parts of the world register
the largest number of people that are affected by the disease. The disease is described as the most
vital viral disease in the world that is caused by a mosquito.
The symptoms of dengue fever include pain in some parts of the eyes, severe muscle pain,
fatigue, vomiting, mild nose bleeding, and nausea. However, these symptoms last for ten days
but are not noticeable immediately after the infection. If the condition is left untreated, it may
lead to a serious condition called hemorrhagic fever. These conditions affect the circulatory
system and other organs of the body, such as the liver. Dengue fever is a serious health issue that
is affecting the people living in rural and tropical areas. Therefore, the issue has to be addressed
through community empowerment and health promotion, as discussed in this paper.

COMMUNITY HEALTH AND DISEASE PREVENTION 3
This paper contains a total of three important parts. Part one identifies a preventable
health concern using Laverack’s ladder of community-based interaction. Part two discusses the
core domains of capacity-building to enhance community empowerment. Lastly, part three
describes the approaches and models that can be employed during community health
development. If the provided litigation measures and promotion strategies explained in the three
parts are put into practice, the spread of chronic diseases and unhealthy behaviors will be
reduced and eradicated in the society.
Part 1: Dengue fever
Dengue fever is a tropical viral infection that is caused by a mosquito (Kularatne, 2015).
Dengue fever is a preventable health concern that requires enough healthcare attention. The
infection causes the development of severe dengue, which is a serious health complication. A
large percentage of people living around tropical and sub-tropical parts of Australia have been
affected by dengue fever.
Therefore, the people living in tropical and subtropical parts of the world should be
engaged and involved in the prevention of the spread of the disease. This can be achieved by
initiating appropriate healthcare programs that will engage the whole community. Different
strategies, such as the ones provided by Laverack should be employed during this process of
community health development. With reference to Laverack’s ladder of community-based
interaction, below are the main strategies that can be used to prevent the spread of dengue fever
among the people living in tropical and sub-tropical parts of Australia and other parts of the
world.

COMMUNITY HEALTH AND DISEASE PREVENTION 4
According to Laverack’s ladder of community interaction, community readiness is one of
the strategies that can be employed to prevent Dengue fever in tropical parts (Noor, 2017). This
involves identifying the key stakeholders in the local community level using door-to-door visits
around the affected community. Local leaders can be given the first priority since they influence
the decisions made by people in a certain community (Laverack, 2007). The media can also be
utilized during this process of making the community ready for the programs.
Participation is also another strategy that can be implemented to prevent dengue fever. It
is the involvement of concerned people in the process of analyzing, planning, and important
decision-making in the implementation of the healthcare programs. To achieve positive
outcomes in the programs initiated, community engagement should also be applied. This
involves the development of a good and strong relationship between healthcare stakeholders and
the people in the community. Assessment, participation, and the use of proper communication
skills are the main aspects of community engagement.
Community organization is also another strategy that can help reduce dengue fever. It
involves general participation by healthcare stakeholders and the community during the decision-
making process concerning the implementation of healthcare programs. Community
development is another strategy that should be utilized. It involves the actual and practical
development of the desired healthcare programs that will help reduce and eradicate dengue fever
among the tropical and sub-tropical communities.
Community capacity is also another vital strategy in the reduction of dengue fever in the
most susceptible communities (Keam, et., al, 2018). It involves the development of the necessary
skills, knowledge, commitment, systems, and necessary structures that may be required during