Primary health care is a term that we hear in all sorts of places these days… But what does it mean?
Well, the easiest way to answer the question is to think of all of places that we receive health care other than hospitals or facilities. We see our family doctors, physiotherapists, lab and X-ray technicians, public health nurses, home care workers, dieticians, massage therapists, pharmacists and others outside of hospitals. These are people that help us keep healthy and answer our questions. They support health promotion and disease prevention and care for our common or chronic illnesses. They provide us with primary health care.
Primary health care is health care where we live, work and play. It is the health care that is a part of our daily living rather than just serious health events. It is about being healthy and having the resources to live well.
One of the priorities of RHA Central is to increase the focus on primary health care. We want to put energy and resources into keeping people healthy rather than just focusing on illness. Keeping people healthy is better for individuals, and is far less expensive than treating diseases after they occur. We want to increase coordination of primary health care services provided in the region by the RHA Central and non-RHA employees. We also understand that, to keep people healthy, we need to focus not only on health services but all of the determinants of health, including determinants such as education, social support and healthy child development.
Click here for more information on primary health care.
