COMMUNITY MOBILIZATION

Community mobilization has been defined as a means of encouraging, inspiring and arousing the interest of community members to make them aware of their health and health related needs and become actively involved in finding solutions to the problems which will enhance self-reliance and initiatives.

Rationale of Community Mobilization

1. It to enable community members identify their own health problems and health related needs

2. It enables the community to plan solutions to their own identified problems

3. It develop the spirit of sense of belonging among community members

4. To ensure equitable distribution of resources

5. It ensures the use of locally available resources in solving their problems thereby ensuring self- reliant and initiative.

Methods of Community Mobilization for Health Actions

1. Formal Education

2. Sensitization meetings

3. Group discussion 

4. Informal Education

5. General Education e.g. Heath Education

6. Training and Retraining of Heath Workers

Plan/Steps in Mobilizing a Community for health Actions

1. Know the community geographically and socio-cultural activities

2. Know and meet with the community leaders 

3. Plan for mobilization

4. Communicate intention to community leaders including:

•  What the program is all about

• What the government is already doing about the.

•  How community participation would contribute to the program

5. Organize general meetings with leaders 

6. Attend the meeting and be punctual (do not keep people waiting)

7. Answer all questions and avoid impossible promises to the community 

8. Make appointment for follow-up meetings 

9. Attend subsequent meetings or follow-up meetings until consensus is meet

COMMUNITY DIAGNOSIS 

Community diagnosis is a process of finding out about the health need of the community. These needs include those already identified by the community (felt needs) as well as those identified during the process of community diagnosis (real need). It is usually carried out in conjunction with the community 

Roles of community diagnosis in primary health care 

1. Identifying health and health related need of the community and used as basis for planning. 

2. Identifying  resources  within the community to solve identified problems 

3. Enhances interaction between the community and health workers.

4. Identifying  constrains which can then be addressed in the planning process,

5. Provides baseline for evaluation of intervention 

6. It provide a solid basis for making plans to solve the health problem and meet the identified health needs.

Rationales for community diagnosis are:

1. It provides the basis for conducting health planning of a community that has already been diagnosed 

2. Community diagnosis gives room for managerial decisions about health development of a Community

3. It also provides realistic information about a community. 

Methods used in community diagnosis 

1. Observation

2. Questionnaire 

3. Interview  

4. Group discussion 

5. Review of exiting records.