Publication Date

5-2013

Type of Culminating Activity

Thesis

Degree Title

Master of Science in Nursing

Department

Nursing

Supervisory Committee Chair

Shoni Davis

Abstract

To improve the health status of rural communities, it is important to recognize and utilize all available health assets the community has to offer. When considering health assets, community members often fail to recognize resources such as economic status, communication, education, recreation, and politics, and instead focus only on obvious resources such as available physicians, Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) services and access to health clinics. The purpose of this study was to identify what community health assets are perceived among members of the rural community of Grangeville, Idaho and how these assets might be categorized according to the nine sub-systems from the Community-as-Partner model.

Forty Granville Idaho residents identified a total of 109 health assets, which were categorized into the nine Community-as-Partner subsystems by 4 nurses with rural health experience. The greatest majority (62%) of perceived assets were categorized as “health and services.” The subsystems least identified with health assets included education, politics, communication, and economics. Findings from this study support the notion that when considering health assets, important assets may not be recognized as contributing to the health of a community.

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