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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Fitzhugh Mullan, MD, Health Affairs, 7500 Old Georgetown Rd., Bethesda, MD 20814, 301-656-7401, fmullan@projecthope.org
Since its inception in rural, pre-apartheid South Africa, community oriented primary care (COPC) has intrigued and informed public health and primary care leaders worldwide. COPC has influenced programs as varied and as important as the community health center movement in the United States, the general practice movement in the United Kingdom, and recent reforms in the public health system of South Africa. This presentation will provide a global overview of COPC, tracing its conceptual roots, reviewing its many manifestations, and exploring its future prospects as an organizational paradigm for the democratic organization of community health services. It will examine the pitfalls and paradoxes of COPC and what they suggest for its future utility—the “crossroads” for COPC. It concludes that COPC has important values and methods to offer a number of disparate but powerful movements in health and public health worldwide.
Learning Objectives:
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.