Abstract
There is a great deal of literature examining the benefits and relevance of community participation and community capacity building in health promotion and disease prevention endeavors. Academic literature embracing principles and commitment to community participation in health promotion practices often neglects the complexities involved and the flexibility required to work within this approach. This article addresses some of these challenges through a case study of two projects funded by Provincial Wellness Grants in Newfoundland and Labrador, a province in Canada with a strong tradition of community ties and support systems. In addition to addressing the unique circumstances of the community groups, this research allowed the authors to examine the situational context and power relations involved in the provision of services as well as the particular forms of subjectivity and citizenship that the institutional practices support. Recognizing this complex interdependency is an important step in creating more effective intervention practices.
Highlights
Since the Ottawa Charter and the Epp Report in the 1980s, Canadian official documents and academic literature have strongly emphasized the need for individuals, communities, and organized groups to participate in initiatives related to their health and well-being (Goodman et al, 1998)
Practitioners and researchers in the fields of health promotion and disease prevention have earnestly embraced the rhetoric of community capacity building and the related notions of community organizing, community development, and social capital, working with a community approach is not as straightforward a task as some literature might lead us to believe (Labonte, 2007; Syme, 2004)
Our research aim was to explore how this sense of community would respond to proactive involvement in health and wellness activities as suggested by the Provincial Wellness Plan (PWP), and how this corresponds to our academic notions of community capacity building
Summary
Since the Ottawa Charter and the Epp Report in the 1980s, Canadian official documents and academic literature have strongly emphasized the need for individuals, communities, and organized groups to participate in initiatives related to their health and well-being (Goodman et al, 1998). This creates an extra challenge for the health promotion planning process, as it involves incorporating a capacity building relationship This relationship implies a kind of interaction that favors values of equity and respect, and facilitates participation, leadership, organizational structures, resource mobilization, and critical assessment. These qualities depend on internal aspects of individuals and social groups and on the availability and quality of public infrastructure (Hawe et al, 2000; Labonte & Laverack, 2001a; Laverack, 2006a, 2006b). For the purpose of this research, we defined community as an orientation for action, as the research dynamic was intended to be a facilitating process to foster assets, resources, and networking possibilities (Simpson et al, 2003; Smith et al, 2008; Walter, 2007)
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