Eva Salber on Community Medicine and Health Facilitators

By Tom Ferguson and M.D.
Published on May 1, 1983
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The role of health facilitators in supporting community medicine has been largely undervalued.
The role of health facilitators in supporting community medicine has been largely undervalued.
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Dr. Tom Ferguson
Dr. Tom Ferguson

Eva Salber is Professor of Family and Community Medicine at the Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, North Carolina. Last year I had the privilege of visiting Dr. Salber at her home in nearby Chapel Hill and discussing her important work promoting the role of lay health care volunteers in community medicine. The following report is drawn from my conversation with this truly remarkable woman. 

“The great majority of illnesses,” Dr. Salber observed as we sat in the comfortable downstairs family room of her home, “are never seen by a physician. The real primary care is provided by one’s family, close neighbors, and friends. Furthermore, in every community there are certain people to whom others turn for advice, counsel, and support. I call such individuals health facilitators. And one of the most important things any doctor or other health professional can do is to find these people and offer them recognition, information, and support.”

Eva Salber, you see, is a champion of the lay health facilitator. She has taught medical professionals from many countries how to help and benefit from these unsung heroes and heroines who, in fact, have always provided a great deal (if not the majority) of the world’s health care. Dr. Salber is quick to say, however, that she isn’t the force behind the “barefoot doctors.” Rather, she has simply pointed out their existence, and suggested ways they might be given the recognition and support they deserve.

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