The Jerusalem experience: three decades of service, research, and training in community-oriented primary care.
Community-oriented primary care (COPC) developed and was tested over nearly 3 decades in the Hadassah Community Health Center in Jerusalem, Israel. Integration of public health responsibility with individual-based clinical management of patients formed the cornerstone of the COPC approach. A family medicine practice and a mother and child preventive service provided the frameworks for this development. The health needs of the community were assessed, priorities determined, and intervention programs developed and implemented on the basis of detailed analysis of the factors responsible for defined health states. Ongoing health surveillance facilitated evaluation, and the effectiveness of interventions in different population groups was illustrated. The center's international COPC involvement has had effects on primary health care policy worldwide.
Epstein
Leon
L
Department of Social Medicine, Hadassah Medical Organization, and the Hebrew University-Hadassah Braun School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Jerusalem, Israel. leon@hadassah.org.il
Gofin
Jaime
J
Gofin
Rosa
R
Neumark
Yehuda
Y
D003151:Community Health Centers / Q000266:history; D018672:Community Health Planning / Q000266:history* / Q000458:organization & administration; D006292:Health Priorities / Q000266:history; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D007391:International Cooperation / Q000266:history; D007557:Israel; D008430:Maternal-Child Health Centers / Q000266:history* / Q000458:organization & administration; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000266:history* / Q000458:organization & administration; D011634:Public Health / Q000193:education / Q000266:history*; D012936:Social Medicine / Q000266:history* / Q000458:organization & administration