Community Conceptual Model Conceptual models are effective guides and tools used for nursing practice. They merge concepts and ideas providing a framework for how to think or demonstrate the elaborate connections between concepts, structures, or a system. They categorize existing interrelationships amid concepts into ways that can effectively direct actions and interventions. The objective of this paper is to define and examine the social ecology model and its application to the nursing process and community health problems. Historical Development The historic development of the social ecology model originates back to the systems theory and Dr. Urie Bronfenbrenner’s social ecological model of human development. Urie Bronfenbrenner is known as the father of the social ecology theory as his work greatly influenced human development theory and social policy. His model is a systems model that encourages an individual to look for connections across various levels depicted by concentric circles with the individual as the center. Social elements within this model are individual, relationships, community, and societal. This model takes into account the multifaceted interaction between individual, relationship, community, and societal factors. The social ecological model divides factors into four systems: micro system, mesosystem, exosystem, and macrosystem and describe influences as intercultural, community, organizational, and interpersonal. The mesosystem is the first level connecting structures of a child’s micro system or physical environment. The second layer, the exosystem, identifies structures that influence an individual’s development, for example, culture, lifestyle, support network, community, and access to services. The macrosystem layer is composed of values, laws, and cultural customs. Interactions within this layer can influence interactions though out the other layers. Last the chronosystem
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