Community Organizing & Health Promotion Programming Lecture 6

Previously… Importance of public health Organizations in public health Epidemiology & health research Types of disease Communicable disease characteristics Non-communicable disease characteristics

Overview Define: community, community health, community organizing, community capacity, empowerment, grassroots participation, macro practice. Know the difference between health promotion & health education Know the five steps in the Generalized Model for health promotion programming Know five intervention considerations. Understand what is meant by: implementation, pilot test, and phasing-in. Know two types of evaluation.

Community Organization Community organizing = process through which communities are helped to identify common problems or goals, mobilize resources, and develop and implement strategies for reaching the goals they have collectively set Not a science, but an art of consensus building Community organizing  health promotion no use trying something that nobody will follow

Community Organization Keywords: (WHY) Community capacity: community characteristics affecting its ability to identify, mobilize, and address problems Empowerment: social action process for people to gain mastery over their lives and the lives of their communities Macro practice: methods of professional change that deal with issues beyond the individual, family, and small group level (HOW) Grassroots participation: bottom-up efforts of people taking collective actions on their own behalf, and they involve the use of a sophisticated blend of confrontation and cooperation in order to achieve their ends

Community Organization Steps in community organizing and building Recognizing the issue Gaining entry into the community Organizing the people Assessing the community Determining the priorities and setting goals Arriving at solution & selecting intervention strategies Implementing the plan Evaluating the outcomes of the plan of action Maintaining the outcomes in the community Looping back

Community Organization Assumptions of community organizing activities Communities can develop the capacity to deal with their own problems. People want to change and can change. People should participate in making changes. Self-imposed and self-developed change is more lasting. "Holistic" is preferred over "fragmented" approach. Democracy requires cooperative participation. Communities need help with problems just like individuals do.

Community Organization Keep in mind… Not all problems can be solved Repeated attempts might be needed If a problem exists, there might be people who benefit from its existence and who may work toward preventing successful solution to the problem

Health Promotion Programming any planned action/process (usually combination of educational, political, environmental, regulatory, or organizational mechanisms) that support actions and conditions of living conducive to the health of individuals, groups, and communities Usually includes health education

Health Promotion Programming Health Education any combination of planned learning experiences based on sound theories that provide individuals, groups, and communities the opportunity to acquire information and the skills to make quality health decisions

Creating Health Promotion Program Generalized Model

Steps in the Generalized Model Assessing Needs of the priority population Determining purpose and scope Gathering data Analyzing data Identifying risk factors linked to health problem Identifying program focus Validating prioritized need

Steps in the Generalized Model Setting Appropriate Goals and Objectives Foundation of the program Portions of the programming process are designed to achieve the goals by meeting the objectives Goals Objectives Provide overall direction for the program Are more general in nature Do not have a specific deadline Usually take longer to complete Are often not measured in exact terms More precise than goals (usually directly measurable) Steps to achieve the program goals The more complex a program, the more objectives needed Composed of who, what, when, and how much

Steps in the Generalized Model Create/Develop an Intervention Intervention Activity/program that the priority population will experience to meet overall goals/objective Considerations: (1) multiplicity, (2) dose, (3) best practice, (4) best process, (5) best experience

Steps in the Generalized Model Intervention Considerations Multiplicity: number of activities that make up the intervention Dose: number of program units as part of the intervention Best practices: recommended method/strategies based on review of scientific evidence Best processes: original methods/strategies that the planners create based on their experience/intuition Best experience: methods/strategies used in prior or existing programs that have not gone through critical research and evaluation

Steps in the Generalized Model Implementing the Intervention Implementation Putting a planned program into action Pilot test Trial run; implementation to a small group Determine problems and fix before full implementation Phasing in Step-by-step implementation; implementation with small groups

Steps in the Generalized Model Evaluating the Results Evaluation determines value/worth of an object of interest Types: Formative or summative

Health Promotion Programming Keep in mind… Health promotion typically follows after community organizing Health promotion programming often intends to influence people’s behavior Systematic method Evidence-based practice

Take-Away Points Community organizing is often called the art of consensus building Steps in the Generalized Model for health promotion programming: needs assessment  set goals/objectives  develop interventions  implementation  evaluation Intervention considerations: multiplicity, dose, best practice, best process, best experience Pilot test or phasing-in sometimes necessary Types of evaluation: formative & summative

Announcement Assignment #2 due this Saturday Next class: discussion of health behavior