COMMUNITY MOBILIZATION

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH PROMOTIONKMTC NAIROBIJ.N.Macharia

OBJECTIVES

• By the end of session participants will be able to:-• Define a community• Define community mobilization• State the role and importance of community mobilization• List steps involved in community mobilization• Identify the target groups community mobilization• Discuss the factors that influence acceptance of health

services• Explain the strategies that we can use to mobilize the

community• Discuss the effects of community mobilization• Explain common barriers to community mobilization.

DEFINITION OF A COMMUNITY

• A community is a group of people who• Live in the same village, town, city• Have same characteristics, cultural background

and language• Have same interest and goals, beliefs and values• Stay in the same geographical area• Trust and respect each other• Share the same facilities, e.g. schools, churches,

health facilities and social amenities

ROLES THE COMMUNITY CAN PLAY

• The community has an important role to identify and use available resources in the village and to plan and act accordingly, in a county where there is a mechanism of local self-government, important decisions are usually made at the local level by the local people themselves.

COMMUNITY MOBILIZATION

• Community mobilization is a process of involving and motivating people, health workers and policy makers to organize and take action for a common purpose in order to achieve sustainable development.

AIMS

• It correctly and adequately and persuasively informs the vast majority of a community to come forward to demand and use certain health services.

• It stimulates families to make intelligent, informed and free choices of demanding and using health services e.g. in immunization,

• raising immunization coverage for the target groups,• reduce vaccine preventable diseases of childhood,• reduce drop-out rates,• To enable programme managers to mobilize

resources in order that the services meet and satisfy the demand created e.g. reduce drop-out rates

• Community mobilization to promote and sustain health implies not only a planned approach to influencing individual behavior change but also to influence social change

• When community mobilization is successful, individuals of communities become self-reliant and behavior and social or structural changes are more likely to be sustained.

• The process facilitates change from one condition to another; support, clarifies, addresses the community needs and aspirations.

• The people are involved and participate actively• The people are involved and participate actively in

articulating and responding to their own problems with support of some experts or facilitators.

• Community mobilization is an integral part of the health system and is vital for success of a programme.

• Health workers must have a clear understanding of the influence of the communities on the provision of health care services.

• Appropriate community mobilization is a community’s right to self-determination and recognizes their indigenous resources.

• The process facilitates members of the community solve their own problems. In this way, their culture, live hood and religion are respected and acts as a positive resources rather than a barrier to the required.

• Where there is community mobilization there is no room for imposing external solutions that may not be in harmony with the community patterns of beliefs or organization.

• The community that is properly mobilized should not feel coerced or forced into making certain decisions.

• They should be part and parcel of all the decisions made and actively involved in every step made.

• In mobilizing communities, experts are open to learning and listening to community ideas and interpretations of information utilizing a language of communication that is understood and accepted.

WHY COMMUNITY MOBILIZATION IS NECESSARY

• Prevention and control of diseases requires the co-operation and participation of the community.

• In order to make the community aware of the benefits of disease prevention and control and the role they can play.

• Community mobilization helps to decrease or reduce mobility from diseases in the community.

• Members of the community may have ideas or resources to improve disease prevention and control.

• Proper management of resources is the best possible way for the development of the community, we call this community mobilization where people plan and do things, they take charge, transforming their community and their lives.

• Community mobilization allows people in the community to;

• Identify needs and promote community interests,• Promote good leadership and democratic decision

making,• Identify specific groups for undertaking specific

problems.

KEY STEPS IN COMMUNITY MOBILIZATION• Create awareness of the health issues• Motivate the community through community

preparation, organizational development, capacity developments and bringing allies together.

• Share information and communication• Support them, provide incentives and

generate resources.

TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES FOR COLLECTING INFORMATION

• Direct observation• Group interviews• Sketching maps• Roles-plays• Stories• Proverbs• Workshops

STEPS INVOLVED IN MOBILIZING THE COMMUNITY FOR DISEASE PREVENTION AND CONTROL

• Building partnership between you and the community .This you will do by spending time listening to the community. Learn as much as possible from the community-learn their values, habits, traditions, attitudes towards disease prevention and control

• Approach the community, through existing local leaders and administration, village health communities or similar groups. Such, groups are composed of persons representing various parts of the community.

• Obtain information to help adopt the disease prevention and control methods to the people you work with.

• Ask elders or VHC members to name some people in the community who would assist you to collect any information, you require to facilitate your work of mobilizing the community for disease prevention and control. You may follow the following steps

• Approach the community• Learn about the community• Identify the target groups for disease prevention

and control• Determine the cause for non-prevention and

control

WHY WE MOBILIZE

• Create awareness of an issue, help plan the strength of a community

• Steps• Define the problem• Establish a community mobilization group• Re-design strategies for a certain objectives• Selection of target group• Active plan – time frame• Capacity building• Identify partners

MOBILIZATION AT VARIOUS LEVELS

• Mobilization is initiated and can occur at various levels so long as both the interest in and values of the particular issue in this case disease prevention and control is high

• Political mobilization• Government• Co-operate• Community• Beneficiary (Families)• Identify the target group for e.g. HIV/AIDS disease prevention and

control• All persons who are sexually active• Those who require special attention e.g. youth in and out of school• Women of child bearing age (15-49) years• HIV/AIDS infected men and women couples

• ADVANTAGES OF COMMUNITY MOBILIZATION• Helps local ownership and the sustainability of

the health programmes.• Helps to motivates people in a community and

encourages participation and involvement of everyone.

• Helps build, community capacity to identify and address community needs.

• Promotes, sustainability and long-term commitment to a community change movement.

• It motivate a community to advocate for policy changes and respond better to health needs

EFFECTS OF COMMUNITY MOBILIZATION

• As a means to influence individual/couples behavior; - decrease morbidity/mortality, - increase in health seeking behavior or health status• As a process to influence community/social change; - increase in individual self-reliance, - increase in community self-reliance.• Both purposes can influence - Social norms - Availability and access to services - Human resource development - Sustainability of local, regional and national commitment

FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE ACCEPTANCE OF HEALTH SERVICES

• These vary from community to community, however in general they include; knowledge, beliefs and values

• Other factors• Influence by other people• Availability and accessibility of health

services

• KNOWLEDGE• Comes from either experiences or through

information provided by teachers, parents, friends, books, mass media etc.

• BELIEFS, TABOOS AND PRACTICES• These are usually derived from parents,

grandparents and other people we respect. Each community has its own beliefs and customs.

• ATTITUDES• Attitudes reflect likes and dislikes. They come

from experiences or from people who are close to us. They attract us to things or makes us wary of them

VALUES

• Values are the beliefs and standards that are most important to a people. People in a community share many values e.g. they may want their community‘s population to growth, thus they may encourage those who have lost their husbands to be inherited. The community may value their economic prosperity. If you understand their values you can tailor your services to match the values of the community e.g. you can emphasis the economic benefits of having a VCT done. This way community members will be motivated to participate.

INFLUENCE FROM OTHER PEOPLE• People who are important to us can make us

behave and act the way we do. e.g. Parents, • Grand-parents, village leaders, religious

leaders, close friends, workmates, people with a lot of experience and special skills and people who try to help ,when need help. Such people should be convinced to help mobilize the community for disease prevention.

AVAILABILITY AND ACCESSIBILITY OF HEALTH SERVICES

• Determine why the community is not participating in the prevention and control. Are the services available? And if available how far away.

STRATEGIES WE CAN USE TO MOBILIZE THE COMMUNITIES

• Advocacy• IEC• Social marketing

ADVOCACY

• Advocacy in diseases prevention and control is a way of convincing individuals or groups to take their share of responsibility in promoting thealth services.

• It can be carried out in stages• Hold seminars for opinion leaders and influential

people to plan with them how responsibility for disease prevention and control will be shared in the community.

• Win the support the of fellow H/WS, make them understand the benefits of the services to the community.

BEHAVIOUR CHANGE COMMUNICATION• Information, education and communication

are very important in community mobilization. For the basic information and message about prevention and control of disease to reach the people at the grass root, many strategies must be used e.g. use of;

Mass media• Radio promotions• TV promotion• Articles in local magazines• Billboards and posters• Pamphlets

Advantages• Reaches large number of people quickly• Portrays credible/believable role models• Puts pressure on decision makers• General interest in the issue

Interpersonal communication• Enables participation by the client• Is an informal choice• Empowers clients as decision makers• Generate value of issues

• Community Mobilization Fora• Every level of health services delivery where the health

provider comes into contact with potential or actual clients.• VHC and other community meetings - Women group meetings - At home during home visits• The following shall participate activity in providing and

disseminating simple and relevant information and education in disease prevention and control.

- All trained Health Workers - community health workers.

METHODS USED TO DISSEMINATE INFORMATION

• Talks• Mass media• Folk media

TALKS• Things to consider• Find out target group• Identify needs of the group• Select priority messages related to the

problem• Set objectives• Outline content• Design and (prepare visual aids)• Identify resources

SOCIAL MARKETING• Involves 4P’s• Product• Price• Place• Promotion

EFFECTS OF COMMUNITY MOBILIZATION• Decrease in disease prevalence• Increase in acceptance of services• Increases individual self- esteem• Increase community self- reliance.

BARRIERS TO COMMUNITY MOBILIZATION:• Rivalries and power struggles• Hidden agenda• Lack of time• Lack of material and human resources

KEY MESSAGES E.G. FOR VCT PROMOTION• Living positively with HIV/AIDS• The pro and cons of testing• VCT confidentiality• Reducing stigma of HIV/AIDS• Myths about HIV• Information and Myths about testing• Information and myths about condoms• Develop simple but good messages.