Chapter 11 Community Settings
Chapter Overview
Key Issues and Learning Outcomes
Key issues within this chapter:- The community is an important setting for health promotion.
- Communities can be defined in many ways, including by geographical boundary area, as an administrative area covered by a service, as a social network or as a group of people with shared characteristics.
- Many influences on health operate at the community level, among them norms, social networks, patterns of leadership, culture, religion, housing and environment.
- Working at the community level opens up opportunities for health empowerment and building up the capacity of communities to participate in meeting their health needs.
- The process of working at the community level involves the following stages: dialogue, making a community profile/needs assessment, and entry, initial and follow-up actions.
- critically assess the potential of the community as a setting for health promotion.
- understand influences at the community level and be able to make a community profile.
- describe the process of systematically working with communities to develop community participation and health empowerment.
Test your Knowledge
Having read the chapter can you now answer the following questions?
- Discuss the different meanings of the word ‘community’.
- Why is the community an important setting for health promotion?
- Define the terms ‘social networks’ and ‘social capital’.
- Offer five suggestions as to why intersectoral collaboration can be difficult to achieve.
- What information is needed to construct a community profile?
- Discuss the range of activities undertaken by a ‘Healthy City’.
- How could you recruit peer educators, an important resource in community-based projects?
Internet links
Overview of community work in the UK by Infed – the informal education group
http://www.infed.org/community/b-comwrk.htm
Social capital for health: Issues of definition, measurement and links to health. http://www.nice.org.uk/page.aspx?o=502681
Discussion of Ferdinand Tonnies and Gemeinschaft and Gesellscha http://www2.pfeiffer.edu/~lridener/courses/gemein.html
For a useful overview and links on Paulo Freire’s contributions see: http://www.infed.org/thinkers/et-freir.htm
Participatory approaches in health promotion and planning - literature review. http://www.nice.org.uk/page.aspx?o=502549
Networks and neighbourhoods: children's and young people's perspectives. http://www.nice.org.uk/page.aspx?o=502113
Online guide to what works in neighbourhood renewal. Documents on the site include how to guides, case studies, project summaries and much more http://www.renewal.net/
Articles
Arnstein, S. R. (1969). ‘A ladder of citizen participation.’American Institute of Planners Journal, 35, 216-224.
http://lithgow-schmidt.dk/sherry-arnstein/ladder-of-citizen-participation.html
Bull, J., McCormick, G., Swann, C., Mulvihill, C. (2004). ‘Ante- and post-natal home-visiting programmes: a review of reviews.’ London: Health Development Authority. http://www.nice.org.uk/page.aspx?o=502671
Campbell, C., Wood, R., Kelly, M. (1999). ‘The relevance of social capital to health promotion.’ Social Capital and Health. London: Health Education Agency. http://www.nice.org.uk/page.aspx?o=502195
Department of Health (1998). ‘Healthy Living Centres. Report of a seminar.’ London: Department of Health. http://www.dh.gov.uk/PublicationsAndStatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidanceArticle/fs/en?CONTENT_ID=4010504&chk=fCB7yS
HDA (2000a). ‘Improving health through community participation.’London: Health Development Agency.
http://www.nice.org.uk/page.aspx?o=502067
HDA (2000b). ‘Art for health. A review of good practice in community-based arts projects and initiatives which impact on health and wellbeing.’ London: Health Development Agency.
http://www.nice.org.uk/page.aspx?o=502343
HDA (2004). ‘Lessons from Health Action Zones.’ London: Health Development Agency.
http://www.nice.org.uk/page.aspx?o=502779
Murray, S. A., Tapson, J., Turnbull, L., McCallum, J. and Little, A. (1994) ‘Listening to local voices: adapting rapid appraisal to assess health and social needs in general practice.’ British Medical Journal, 308, 698-700. http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/308/6930/698
Pringle, A. and Sayers, P. (2004). ‘It's a goal!: basing a community psychiatric nursing service in a local football stadium.’ Journal of the Royal Society of Health, 124, 234-238.
http://rsh.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/124/5/234
Ritchie, D., Parry, O., Gnich, W., Platt, S. (2004). ‘Issues of participation, ownership and empowerment in a community development programme: tackling smoking in a low-income area in Scotland.’ Health Promotion International, 19, 51-59. http://heapro.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/19/1/51
Robinson, S.E., Roberts, M.M. (1985). ‘A women's health shop: a unique experiment.’ British Medical Journal, 291, 255-256. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/picrender.fcgi?artid=1416847&blobtype=pdf
Social Exclusion Unit (2001). ‘A new commitment to neighbourhood renewal.’ National Strategy Action Plan. London: The Stationery Office.
http://www.neighbourhood.gov.uk/publications.asp?did=85
