Community Participatory Approaches Research Articles

Assessment of Community Awareness and Participation Approaches in Natural Gas Management in Songosongo Island

Assessment of Community Awareness and Participation Approaches in Natural Gas Management in Songosongo Island

Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and disaster recovery for community resilience: A mixed methods study from Odisha, India

This paper addresses challenges in water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) during recovery by documenting relief and recovery efforts by Oxfam to improve WASH behaviour changes after 2013 Cyclone Phailin and floods in Odisha. Findings are based on a mixed-methods study in three districts: Oxfam undertook a cross-sectional survey at baseline and end line (n1 = 374; n2 = 366) households were undertaken in Puri and Ganjam districts in 2014. Qualitative data were collected in Puri and Balasore from 50 interviews including household members and key informants such as health workers, and government officials. 43 focus group discussions with female and male community members were conducted as part of the response programme. The quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistics and the qualitative data was interpreted using an inductive Framework approach. Agency interventions focussed on communal water supply, and shared sanitation facilities. Although households readily adopted safer water-related practices, there were no changes in open defecation prevalent in these districts. This study suggests that if WASH recovery programmes are to be instrumental in improving community health, sanitation and resilience, they need to emphasise on health education, addressing social norms, attitudes and preferences for open defecation through community participation and interconnected approach.

Girls’ Menstrual Management in Five Districts of Nepal: Implications for Policy and Practice

Discriminatory practices related to menstruation affect the social, mental and physical wellbeing of girls in many low-and middle-income countries. We conducted mixed methods research in five districts of Nepal to explore how menstruation affected girls’ ability to fully participate in school and community life. We conducted 860 structured interviews, 26 group interviews and 10 focus group discussions with schoolgirls in rural areas,14 semi-structured interviews with girls’ mothers, and 10 interviews with health teachers. Girls in all districts experienced social, material and information barriers to confident menstrual management. Menstrual blood was believed to carry diseases, and girls’ movement was restricted to contain ritual pollution and protect them from illness, spirit possession, and sexual experiences. Taboos prevented girls from worshipping in temples or in their home, and some girls were not allowed to enter the kitchen, or sleep in their home while menstruating. Teachers and parents felt unprepared to answer questions about menstruation and focused on the maintenance of restrictions. Teachers and students were embarrassed discussing menstruation in school and classes were not question-driven or skills-based. Gender disaggregated teaching of menstruation and engagement of health facility staff may have positive effects. Community participatory approaches that engage girls, their families and the wider community are necessary to address harmful cultural practices. Cross-sectoral approaches to provide clean, private, safe spaces for girls and increased availability of preferred materials could enable confident menstrual management.

Indigenous model of care to health and social care workforce planning.

Indigenous people have always had the end in mind-a long range vision for the health and wellbeing of their families and communities. Creating Indigenous solutions-oriented approaches to strategic health and social care workforce planning is an essential component to the realization of self-determination and empowerment, accessible health services, community participation, and flexible approaches to care. This article suggests using an Indigenous "models of care" population health approach to health and social care workforce planning that takes a critical thinking, systems thinking, and design thinking approach using digital tools (eg, scenario planning and population health simulation). It also proposes to increase the number of Indigenous professionals through Indigenous partnership initiatives with professional groups and academic institutions. This article is written to encourage discussion on the use of a whole system approach to developing Indigenous models of health delivery and to inform strategic services and workforce planning.

The Role of Health Policies in Faith-based Institutions in Promoting Health and Changing Food Practices: The Philadelphia Ujima Experience.

The Philadelphia Ujima Health Collaborative uses a community-based participatory research framework to address nutrition in underserved communities. Participation in individual-level focused health promotion activities motivated two faith-based partners to develop wellness policies to better inform their health promoting practices, specifically around food served at church events. This study investigated the effectiveness of church-based policies in influencing 1) organizational practices regarding food and beverages served and sold and 2) individual attitudes and practices toward healthy eating. Congregants completed questionnaires assessing their knowledge and awareness of the policy as well as observed changes in institutional and personal practices. Additionally key informant interviews were conducted with ministry leaders and members. As a result of the wellness policies developed, sites increased consumption of fruits, vegetables, and water at events. Institutional barriers and lessons learned were identified. Effective community-academic partnerships using community participatory approaches with a health in all policies focus can improve health behaviors in diverse and underserved communities and engage them to play an active role in health promotion.

‘Socialising’ primary care? The Soviet Union, WHO and the 1978 Alma-Ata Conference

In September 1978, the WHO convened a momentous International Conference on Primary Health Care in Alma-Ata, capital of the Soviet republic of Kazakhstan. This unprecedented gathering signalled a break with...

Facilitators of community participation in an Aboriginal sexual health promotion initiative

Community participation is a collaborative process aimed at achieving community-identified outcomes. However, approaches to community participation within Aboriginal health promotion initiatives have been inconsistent and not well documented. Smart and Deadly was a community-led initiative to develop sexual health promotion resources with young Aboriginal people in regional Victoria, Australia. The principles of community-centred practice, authentic participatory processes and respect for the local cultural context guided the initiative. The aim of this article is to report factors that facilitated community participation undertaken in the Smart and Deadly initiative to inform future projects and provide further evidence in demonstrating the value of such approaches. A summative evaluation of the Smart and Deadly initiative was undertaken approximately 2 years after the initiative ended. Five focus groups and 13 interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of 32 participants who were involved with Smart and Deadly in one of the following ways: project participant, stakeholder or project partner, or project developer or designer. A deductive content analysis was undertaken and themes were compared to the YARN model, which was specifically created for planning and evaluating community participation strategies relating to Aboriginal sexual health promotion. A number of factors that facilitated community participation approaches used in Smart and Deadly were identified. The overarching theme was that trust was the foundation upon which the facilitators of community participation ensued. These facilitators were cultural safety and cultural literacy, community control, and legacy and sustainability. Whilst the YARN model was highly productive in identifying these facilitators of community participation, the model did not have provision for the element of trust between workers and community. Given the importance of trust between the project team and the Aboriginal community in the Smart and Deadly initiative, a suggested revision to the YARN model is that trust is included as the basis upon which YARN model factors are predicated. Adding trust to the YARN model as a basis upon which YARN model factors are grounded assists future Aboriginal health promotion projects in ensuring community participation approaches are more likely to be acceptable to the Aboriginal community.

The power of consensus: Developing a community voice in land use planning and tourism development in biodiversity hotspots

In regions rich in natural resources, nature-based tourism is advancing rapidly. This form of development is identified as an important economic opportunity for local communities but can impact ecosystem services through rapid landscape transformation, threatening the livelihoods of the most impoverished sectors of a community. While it is accepted that communities should participate in the planning process, variation in community and household-level landscape dependencies and priorities can create a fractured viewpoint that is difficult to integrate into the land planning process. Power structures and special interests can subvert participatory processes and input at the community level. In the Chobe District, Northern Botswana, tourism, and other related developments had occurred at a rapid pace around the Chobe National Park creating access barriers, in some instances, to essential natural resource areas. We evaluate community landscape dependencies and participatory approaches to the development of inclusive land use maps. Spatial information on land use dependencies from household surveys were used to form the bases of reiterative village-level participatory mapping exercises (n = 179 households, six villages). The activities were conducted through traditional leadership structures. Landscape dependencies were widespread across study villages in both natural resource and agricultural sectors. Cluster and CART analysis of household data identified important variation in landscape dependencies between and within study villages. Fishing was the most important factor predicting gender of headship with male-headed households using this resource more frequently. Spatial data from these household consultations were used to create a draft map that was reiteratively refined through participatory map building exercises until final approval was provided by community members and their traditional leaders in a village. Scaled consultations and involvement of the traditional leadership limited the ability of power structures to control the process and/or subvert the interests of more vulnerable members of a community. Mapping outputs were later successfully used in land planning exercises and consultations. Development of inclusive community consensus on landscape dependencies should be undertaken before lucrative tourism ventures and land allocations are advanced in competition to the needs of more vulnerable and often voiceless sectors of a community.

The Techniques of Participatory Design for Inclusive Public Space Provision in Kampung Kota of Surakarta

The technique of participatory design is essential for the future development knowledge of architecture to inform the improvement of architectural education and practice in Asia. Therefore to provide of inclusive public spaces for the community, this research article presents a field study of the usage of community participation design method in design and planning to provide inclusive public spaces within the kampung (settlements) in Surakarta, Indonesia. Surakarta has a problem to provide inclusive public space for its dense organic-informal kampung’s for the vulnerable populations such as children. Multi dimensional complexities of the kampung’s often challenge the notion of public space provision. Community participation approach arises as one of the preferred alternative methods to solve the problems with its basic community-based foundation. This research chose Sangkrah and Gandekan sub-districts as research locations both of the areas represent kampung’s characteristics and inhabited by many children population. Steps toward the goal of the study are; (1) field observation of the implementation of a community participation design through participatory place making project, and (2) examining typology assessment perspective, and (3) clarify participation techniques. This research used: (1) descriptive analysis for the project implementation, and (2) qualitative analysis for examining community’s perspectives. Through this multi-perspective analysis, this research presents the an alternative framework for implementing techniques community participation methods in design and planning to provide inclusive public spaces especially for children in Indonesia and other developing countries.

Promoting Policy Development through Community Participatory Approaches to Health Promotion: The Philadelphia Ujima Experience

BackgroundThe Philadelphia Ujima Coalition for a Healthier Community (Philadelphia Ujima) promotes health improvement of girls, women, and their families using a gender framework and community-based participatory research approach to addressing gender-based disparities. Institutional policies developed through community-based participatory research approaches are integral to sustaining gender-integrated health-promotion programs and necessary for reducing gender health inequities. This paper describes the results of a policy analysis of the Philadelphia Ujima coalition partner sites and highlights two case studies. MethodsThe policy analysis used a document review and key informant interview transcripts to explore 1) processes that community, faith, and academic organizations engaged in a community participatory process used to develop policies or institutional changes, 2) types of policy changes developed, and 3) initial outcomes and impact of the policy changes on the target population. ResultsFifteen policies were developed as a result of the funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office on Women's Health. Policy changes included 1) healthy food options guidance, 2) leadership training on sexual and relationship violence, and 3) curricula and programming inclusion and expansion of a sex and gender focus in high school and medical school. ConclusionsOrganizational practice changes and policies can be activated through individual-level interventions using a community participatory approach. This approach empowers communities to play an integral role in creating health-promoting policies.

Review of Community Participation and FM Services Contributions Toward Provisioning of Quality Municipal Services in Malaysian Local Authorities

Local authorities’ service delivery in recent times has categorised as a function of multiple players. Connecting with stakeholders such as customers, suppliers, employees, and local communities and their needs in an interactive session or communicative process has been classified as significant for successful Facilities Management (FM) services that bridges gaps that exist between those expectations and service provisioning that meets their wants and specific needs. FM will lead curtail wastage, less downtime and improve the bottom line. Beneficiaries of LAs services need to have a say in the decisions relating to the facilities provided, and if possible to take part in its provisioning or development and to manage it after completion. The methodology adopted in this research is secondary sources of data, were article, textbooks and statutory documents were critically reviewed. This study reviewed the community participation and FM services contributions towards enhancing and provisioning quality municipal services of LAs in Malaysia. This study shows that there are enormous benefits that both the LAs and local communities can achieve when community participation and FM services come together as a factor of service delivery. Service delivery changes have been complemented by improved community participation and FM systems. LAs in Malaysia can be successful in public sector service quality through the adoption of a community participation based on FM services approach. The results of this study shows that local government in Malaysia are yet to attain excellent level in times of community participation and FM service approach for adequate service delivery. A way forward lies on LAs to embrace service delivery best practice through synergy between community participation and FM at local levels, LAs should examine the revenue bases and expenditures of their local authorities, and the extent that their differences affect the capacity of local authorities in providing quality municipal services.

Evaluating the effectiveness of a community-based hygiene promotion program in a rural Salvadoran setting.

There has been considerable progress in the reduction of diarrheal disease among children under five through health and nutrition interventions. However, diarrheal disease is still the second leading cause of child death worldwide. There is growing recognition that comprehensive hygiene behavior improvements should be integral to prevention efforts, but the effectiveness of different approaches for hygiene promotion is still being established. Hygiene risk practices vary across settings, suggesting that prevention strategies should be adapted to local contexts using community-based approaches. We planned, implemented, and evaluated a hygiene promotion intervention using the hygiene cluster framework. The two-year, multi-level intervention was implemented by local health promoters who were involved in identifying and addressing disease transmission risks at the household, school, and community levels. The intervention was evaluated using a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design with repeated follow-up assessments to determine changes in hygiene knowledge and behavior. A household survey instrument was administered at three time points in the intervention ( n = 480) and comparison ( n = 271) communities to assess two hygiene knowledge and eleven hygiene behavior outcome variables. We used one-way analysis of variance with post hoc analysis using Tukey's HSD for multiple comparisons to examine change and differences over time. We also fit a linear regression model to identify statistically significant differences. Study results demonstrated improvements in the areas of: knowledge of disease transmission and key times for handwashing, water container hygiene, sanitation practices, personal hygiene and food hygiene. The hygiene cluster framework is useful for hygiene promotion intervention planning and evaluation, and we recommended continued testing of this framework across contexts. We also recommend local community participatory approaches, as well as in-depth formative behavioral assessments by hygiene cluster that also consider environmental barriers to behavior change.

Zoonotic and Vector-Borne Diseases in Urban Slums: Opportunities for Intervention

Urban slums provide conditions that increase the risk of exposure to vector-borne and zoonotic pathogens. Large interventions, such as social and sanitary changes, are a priority but their implementation is challenging. Integration between the multidisciplinary understanding of pathogens' dynamics and community participatory approaches is a key prevention strategy.

Ethical Challenges in Community-Based Participatory Research: A Scoping Review.

Ethical challenges in community-based participatory research (CBPR) are of increasing interest to researchers; however, it is not known how widespread these challenges are or how extensively the topic has been explored. Using Arksey and O'Malley's scoping review method, studies on ethical challenges in CBPR were mapped. Findings indicate that researchers continue to raise questions about ethics associated with CBPR. Our purpose in this article is to present a thematic summary of international ethical challenges as a guide for researchers interested in community participatory approaches and to better prepare them for qualitative health research with communities.

Promoting Quality Education in Post-Conflict Situations: A Community Participation Approach

Conflicts have devastating impact on children’s education. Formal and non-formal education structures are corroded, communities displaced and fragmented and educational inputs threatened. Maintaining a sufficient educational corps, recruiting educators, properly training and remunerating them become a challenge. During conflicts, the state may not have the capacity and political will to provide education. Communities in troubled or remote areas may become isolated and beyond the reach of government services and this may create gap which needs to be filled by non-state actors to ensure learning continues. Education is important both for its intrinsic human worth and for possibilities for societal improvement which may contribute towards an end to the conflict, the provision of schooling becomes a priority and focus of community engagement. In the absence or inability of an education authority to manage the education system, the community needs to step in to re-establish schools and keep the system functioning. The research sets out to explore the types of roles communities play in the provision of education and the conditions that may hinder or encourage positive engagement in both emergency and reconstruction settings. The research recommends that social and affective aspects of learning and active participation of all should be emphasized towards improving the educational quality in situations of post-conflict. Cultural and social dimension should be at the centre of community participation in education.

Generating Sustainable Green Open Space Development in Urban Residential Areas through Community Participation Approach

<p>The increase of urban population is closely interconnected to the demand for living spaces that accommodate various urban activities. When the balance between the need for, and the availability of, such spaces is disturbed, unlivable spaces are generated which would eventually downgrade the quality of urban environment. Bearing in mind the increasing clamor over global warming during the last two decades, Urban Planners should carefully anticipate the issue and put their focus on, and even provoke the creation of Sustainable Green Space Development, including the creation of open green urban spaces. Accommodating the aspirations and participation of citizens, through the application of the development principle based on “from, by and for them”, becomes a most important part of the strategy to achieve sustainable development patterns. The worsening environmental deterioration due to the stakeholders becoming unheedful about the issue should be taken into serious consideration. In the study, observations have been conducted in a descriptive manner by using a non randomized experimental design using control at three neighborhoods in West Jakarta, with one of them being the controller. It was showing that after the first 6 months, the application of green environment approach in the neighborhoods was maintained through self-help and communal actions. Community organizations that have been established on the spirit of mutual co-operation becomes determinative for the success of such sustainable pattern; the sustanability would in phases also improve the people’s economy and their social interaction. The involvement of local governments, the private sector and the community would also greatly influence the creation of Sustainable Green Development Pattern, and should continuously be evaluated and improved for replications in other locations in an ever perfect process.<br />Keywords: sustainable, green open space, participation, partnership.</p>

Community Participation in Cholangiocarcinoma Prevention in Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand: Relations with Age and Health Behavior.

A high prevalence of Opisthorchis viverrini infection is usually found in wetland geographical areas of Thailand where people have traditional behavior of eating uncooked freshwater fish dishes which results in cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) development. There were several approaches for reducing opisthorchiasis-linked CCA, but the prevalence remains high. To develop community participation as a suitable model for CCA prevention is, firstly, to know what factors are related. We therefore aimed to investigate factors associated with the community participation in CCA prevention among rural residents in wetland areas of Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand. This was a cross-sectional analytic study. All participants were 30-69 years of age, and only one member per house was invited to participate. A total of 906 participants were interviewed and asked to complete questionnaires. Independent variables were socio-demographic parameters, knowledge, health belief and behavior to prevent CCA. The dependent variable was community participation for CCA prevention. Descriptive statistics were computed as number, percentage, mean and standard deviation. Associations were assessed using logistic regression analysis with a P-value <0.05 considered statistically significant. Of all the participants, more than 60% had regularly participated in activities to prevent CCA following health officials advice. Age and health behavior to prevent CCA were factors associated with community participation for CCA (p<0.001). Both factors will be taken into consideration for community participation approaches for CCA prevention through participatory action research (PAR) in future studies.

Analysis of health sector gender equality and social inclusion strategy 2009 of Nepal.

The policy on gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) in health sector of Nepal is formulated in 2009 targeting toward poor, vulnerable, marginalized social and ethnic groups. Gender inequality and social discrimination are a social problem that affect on individual health finally. The main objective of this paper is to critically analysis and evaluates the Government's strategy on health sector gender equality and social inclusion in Nepal. We collected published and unpublished information assessing the public health, policy analysis and research needs from different sources. A different policy approaches for the analysis and evaluation of GESI strategies is applied in this paper. Universal education, community participation, individual, group and mass communication approaches, and social capital are the key aspects of effective implementation of policy at target levels.

건강증진이 기반한 주요 원칙과 가치: 오타와 헌장 및 세계보건기구 관련 문헌 등을 중심으로

Objectives: This paper reviews the main principles and values underlying health promotion and reflects upon recent health promotion efforts in Korea. Methods: The essay approaches these issues through the framework of the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion (WHO, 1986) and other related (WHO) documents. The Ottawa Charter has been an important basis for health promotion worldwide over the last three decades since 1986. Emphasizing the instrumental value of health and the prerequisites for health, it provides the definition of health promotion and elaborates the strategies for health promotion as well as the main health promotion actions. Results: Beyond the values of health as both a fundamental human right and a resource for everyday life, the values and principles related to health promotion shown in WHO documents and other literature include holism, social justice and equity, public and community participation, autonomy, empowerment, socioecological approaches to health, sustainability, intersectoral collaboration, partnership-building, responsibilityfor health, and so on. Conclusions: Reflecting, subjectively, on health promotion efforts in Korea, some values, including holism in terms of target population, equity, public and community participation, empowerment, and socio-ecological approaches have been realized to some extent, while other values like intersectoral collaboration and partnership have not been considered sincerely in public efforts relating to health promotion. Therefore, future health promotion efforts in Korea should concentrate on incorporating these critical values and principles-based approaches into health promotion activities.Key words: Ottawa Charter, Health promotion, Community organization, Empowerment, Community development

EVALUATION OF SOMBO FLATS ASSOCIATED WITH ENVIRONMENTAL DEVELOPMENT

Homes as basic human needs have an important role in the growth of the inhabitants. In fact, many people do not have access to adequate housing. Surabaya as one of the big cities in Indonesia also has problems in providing decent dwelling for the residents of the city. Flats are built as one of the solutions for settlement problems in Surabaya. One of the settlement problems that are answered with the provision of flats is the Sombo flats. The Sombo flats were built in stages and has been operating since 1992. When viewed today, the existing condition of Sombo flat has undergone many functional shifts and quality degradation. In addition to the growing population, there are internal problems of the inhabitants such as low ecological cultural awareness. This research is a form of evaluation of the function and quality of Sombo flat with descriptive-qualitative method. From the evaluation and analysis conducted, it currently needs rejuvenation with ecological and sustainable community and environmental participation approach.