Community development

This approach requires the participation of community members at every stage of the programme. Community development is a collective action where members of the community participate in assessing the needs of the community and help in the planning of actions, targets and goals to meet those needs. This approach includes the interpersonal skills component of the self-empowerment approach.

At the community level there are many influences over health-related behaviours, some of these such as social and cultural norms, beliefs, and values have been covered in this Module, but influences can also include factors such as the local socio-economic situation of your community and prevailing environmental conditions such as drought or floods.

Community participation is essential for you as a Health Extension Practitioner to understand and deal with those influences. Communities often have detailed knowledge about their history, culture and surrounding environment so it is crucial to include them at all stages of your community development activities. If the community is involved in choosing healthcare priorities and making plans those people are much more likely to become involved in the implementation of your health education activities, and these are more likely to be successful.

Encouraging participation is also important for developing the self-reliance, empowerment and problem-solving skills of your community members, it will also enable you to use locally available resources and help you to create better relationships with the people in the community you are working in.