Renewal of primary care

The chapter introduces the concepts and practices of primary care with emphasis on people’s health and wellness, disease detection and prevention, healthy behaviour promotion as well as the social and financial benefits of primary health care. Primary care is the key to “health for all”, the paradigm shift in thinking about health as stated in the Declaration of Alma-Ata at the International Conference on Primary Health Care of the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1978. Renewal of primary health care (PHC) was voiced in the World Health Report 2008, including putting people at the centre of health and responding better and faster to the changing world and growing community expectations. This chapter examines the development of primary care in the last four decades with respect to health promotion and repeated calls to promoting PHC in making social and behavioural changes to improve population health. PHC practices in the worldwide perspectives are illustrated with reference to cases selected from developed and developing countries, as well as strategies for priority setting. Views on the future role of primary care in community health and wellness in the healthcare delivery system will be described in the context of long-term gain to the society and the future generations. Community-based care and practice models of primary care will be introduced to further illustrate the importance of primary care in the community. Attention is also drawn to the contribution of an interdisciplinary approach to primary care and the way forward with a proposal on “eight I’s approach”.