Abstract
The asset-based community development (ABCD) approach have been widely used to map local assets and to ensure participation of local communities in public health promotion strategies. Participatory practices, such as ABCD, have been applied to shift public health strategies towards addressing health inequities. In this meta-synthesis, we ask if, and how, ABCD enhance the level of participation for children, youth and schools. Three thousand eight hundred eight titles and abstracts were identified in ten databases and transferred to the online program Rayyan. Through a blinded process we excluded texts that did not meet the inclusion criteria. The twelve included texts on ABCD for children, youth and schools are of varying quality. The research on ABCD for children, youth and schools have not been cumulative. Nevertheless, the texts show that ABCD provides strategies that enhance the participation of children, youth, and schools, in health promotion projects. The projects were categorized according to Robert Hart’s classical participation ladder, and we found that the projects with the highest level of adherence to ABCD principles also had the highest level of participation. The projects with high levels of participation were supported by adult facilitators that created learning environments where children and youth developed their participatory skills.
Highlights
Asset-based community development (ABCD) is one of several approaches employed in health promotion strategies to engage communities, focusing on establishing networks and collective action [1,2]
The projects were categorized according to Robert Hart’s classical participation ladder, and we found that the projects with the highest level of adherence to ABCD principles had the highest level of participation
The projects with high levels of participation were supported by adult facilitators that created learning environments where children and youth developed their participatory skills
Summary
Asset-based community development (ABCD) is one of several approaches employed in health promotion strategies to engage communities, focusing on establishing networks and collective action [1,2]. As a move to shift public health practices towards addressing health inequalities and inequities, community involvement and participatory practices have become more central to health promotion strategies the last decades [3,4]. Some see this as a re-orientation of public health strategies, while others see it as a return to “the old public health” [5,6]. Community engagement may involve both direct and indirect pathways to reduce health inequalities. Such approaches have been found to be effective in reducing
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