COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT

o A community development strategy

o It uses the non-traditional educational methods to enable individuals to understand their goals
independent of the prevailing social order and to develop capacities to realize these goals

FOCUS OF APPLICATION TO HEALTH IN COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT

 Enhancing awareness of needs
 Promoting effective problem solving
 Developing capacities for implementing solutions in high risk communities

CHARACTERISTICS OF A COMPETENT COMMUNITY

 Collaborate effectively on identifying the problems and needs of the community
 Can achieve a working consensus on goals and priorities
 Agree on the ways and means to implement the agreed upon goals
 Can collaborate effectively in the required actions

PRINCIPLES/APPROACHES FOR INCREASING COMMUNITY COMPETENCE

o Identify natural and indigenous community leaders
o Involve them in undertaking their own community assessment and developing actions to
strengthen the community

OBJECTIVES OF COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION

 Gather data on the geographic, economic, political and socio-cultural situation in order to
identify the problem and issues
 Identify the classes and sectors present in the community to determine their interests and
attitudes towards the issues
 Identify potential leaders of the organizing process
 Determine the correct approach and method of organizing
 Provide basis for planning

LEVELS OF PARTICIPATION
o Non-Participation
a. Manipulation – citizens are assigned to “rubberstamp committees” by the power holders
b. Therapy – diverts the attention of the people from the real problems by making them engage in
group therapy activities
o Degree of tokenism or token participation
a. Informing – one way communication, no mechanism of feedback or negotiation
b. Consultation – thru surveys, neighborhood meetings or public hearings
c. Placation – “meetingitis”and “projectitis”, no mechanism for insuring continued participation
during the implementation phase
d. Partnership – power is redistributed by negotiation between citizens and power-holders thru
joint planning to resolve issues
o Degrees of Citizen Power
a. Delegated power – citizen vote is provided for if differences of opinion cannot be resolved
through negotiation
b. Citizen control – rung of participation where “people power” is greatest guarantee that citizens
can take charge of a program, its policy and management
FACTORS AFFECTING COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION
 Discriminatory attitudes
 Access barriers
 Issues around resources
 Representativeness

MODELS OF PEOPLE’S PARTICIPATION

 Hospital/Clinic-Based
a. People are merely informed of activities
b. Decisions are performed by the doctor who normally defines the objectives of health care,
delivers health services and analyzes information
 Community-Oriented
a. Packaged programs and projects are confirmed through consultations with other members of
the health team
b. Attempts are made to consult the community although the program objectives and activities are
already predetermined
c. Implementation, monitoring and evaluation are mainly done by the health professionals
 Community-Managed
a. conceptualization, implementation, management and major decision-making are all lodged in
the community itself
b. Major responsibility for health care is in the community and not on health implementers
c. Community members will specify the nature of government assistance and other support for
their needs
4. Self-reliance
COPAR (Community Organizing Participatory Action Research)
 A continuous and sustained process of educating the people to understand and develop their
critical awareness of their existing conditions, working with the people collectively and
efficiently on their immediate needs toward solving their long-term problems

IMPORTANCE OF COPAR
 It is an important tool for community development and people empowerment as this helps the
community workers to generate community participation in development activities

PRINCIPLES OF COPAR
 People, especially the oppressed, exploited and deprived sectors are open to change, have the
capacity to change and are able to bring about change.
 COPAR should be based on the interests of the poorest sectors of the society.
 COPAR should lead to a self-reliant community and society.

PROCESSES/METHODS USED IN COPAR

 CONSCIOUSNESS-BASED RAISING
- Experiential learning is central to COPAR process because it places emphasis on leaning that
emerges from concrete action and which encircles succeeding action
 COPAR IS PARTICIPATORY AND MASS-BASED
- It is primarily directed towards and biased in favor of the poor, the powerless and the
oppressed
 COPAR IS GROUP CENTERED
- It is not leader centered
 - Leaders are identified, emerge and are tested through action rather than appointed or
selected by some external force or entity

APPROACHES TO COMMUNITY ORGANIZING

1. ISSUE-BASED APPROACH
 Vision-oriented organizing
 Revolves around certain community issues and problems

ISSUE
 a problem of public concern on which people are willing to act on to initiate change

WHEN DOES ORGANIZING HAPPENS?

 When the community, usually with the external facilitation, begins to believe they can change
these realities through local action and advocacy
 A vision or a goal guides the community or organization in changing problematic conditions
 It holds the group together until the issues are solved

FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENTS OF ISSUE-BASED APPROACH

 Should identify a problem that many feel strongly about
 Should identify a problem that many are willing to act on
 Must be alert to identify available external sources of help
 Must ensure that identified issue is winnable and gains achievable; must be result-oriented
 Must follow principle of homogeneity
 Must have a geographical concentration

2. MICRO-PROJECT APPROACH
 Socio-economic approach
 Focuses on social economic issues which can be resolved through the introduction of projects
 Effective in disaster affected areas where there is poverty

ACTIVITIES BEFORE IMPLEMENTING THE PROJECTS

 Organize with the existing community groups and associations rather than with individual
families or residents
 Build new organizations only when there are no existing organizations or when working with
existing organizations is not feasible
 Work closely with LGUs, government line agencies and local NGOs
 Build capabilities of target population through education and training

 Requiring community counterpart in project implementation helps revive the people’s spirit of
cooperation and sense of project ownership

3. FAITH-BASED APPROACH
- Organizing approach based on religious affiliation

STAGES OF COMMUNITY ORGANIZING

Stage 1 - COMMUNITY ANALYSIS
  Process of assessing and defining needs, opportunities and resources involved in initiating
community health action program
 Also called community diagnosis, community needs assessment, health education planning and
mapping

COMPONENTS OF COMMUNITY ANALYSIS

 Demographic, social and economic community profile obtained from secondary data
 Health risk profile
 Social risk indicators – unemployment, low literacy rate, low social capital and absence of
support system
 Behavioral risk indicators – dietary and lifestyle concerns, alcoholism, drug addiction, smoking
 Environmental risk indicators – pollution, improper garbage and sewage disposal, unhygienic
health practices, unsanitary or dirty home and environment
 Health/wellness outcomes profile found in morbidity/mortality data
 Survey or analysis of current health promotion programs
 Studies conducted in certain target groups or special populations

STEPS IN COMMUNITY ANALYSIS

 Define the community
 Collect data
 Assess the community’s capability or capacity by looking at the factors that may facilitate or
hinder the proposed changes and assess leadership potentials, existing organizations and
programs that are already in place
 Assess community barriers in terms of acceptability of the proposed changes and these in line
with the existing culture and traditions of the people
 Assess readiness for change
 Synthesize data and set priorities to come up with a community profile of the needs and
resources which will determine the community intervention to be undertaken

Stage 2 – DESIGN AND INITIATION OF INTERVENTION

o establish a core planning group and assign a local organizer
o Choose an organizational structure that will activate and encourage community participation
and involvement
o Identify, select and recruit organizational members representing the different sectors of the
community
o Define the organization’s mission and goals
o Clarify the roles and responsibilities of the members of the organization
o Provide skill and livelihood training and recognition for their contributions to the success of the
program

Stage 3 – IMPLEMENTATION
- Process of executing or carrying out the design plans and putting these into actions

STRATEGIES DURING THE IMPLEMENTATION

 Generate broad citizen participation
 Develop a sequential work plan which will be subject to constant monitoring
 Use comprehensive, integrated strategies
Stage 4 – PROGRAM AND MAINTENANCE-CONSOLIDATION
- Process of upholding, continuing, merging or integrating successful programs or those that
have gained acceptance in the community

STRATEGIES
 Integrate intervention activities into community networks, associations or groups
 Establish a positive organizational culture through group processes based on trust, respect and
openness
 Establish on-going recruitment plans and training of new members
 Disseminate results of activities to gain/maintain community support

Stage 5 – DISSEMINATION-REASSESSMENT
 Update the community analysis
 Assess effectiveness of intervention programs
 Chart future direction and modifications
 Summarize and disseminate results for visibility and to elicit support