Community engagement is a proven social and behavior change (SBC) strategy that has helped people around the world identify and address pressing health issues.[1] According to UNICEF, community engagement focuses on collective or group participation. It empowers communities and their social networks to reflect on and address a range of behaviors, issues and decisions that affect their lives and to become proactively involved in their community’s development. Community engagement is a strategy that raises awareness and strengthens the community’s capacity to effect change.
Community engagement helps people improve their own health and living conditions while strengthening and enhancing the community’s ability to work together for any goal that is important to its members. The end result of a successful community engagement effort is not simply a “problem solved” but rather the increased capacity of a community to successfully address other needs and desires.
A community engagement approach allows the community to:
- Develop an ongoing dialogue with health programs
- Empower themselves to address their own health needs
- Recognize diversity and equity
- Work in partnership with program to create locally appropriate responses
- Be linked to external resources
Like any development approach, community engagement is not a panacea; it is not the answer to every development issue or the right approach for every community. Even within the same community, it may be the right approach for certain health issues but not for others. Under the right circumstances, however, community engagement has been proven to be a powerful tool for unleashing the potential of individuals and communities around the world.
In this Trending Topic we provide tools and program examples for community engagement, as well as some for community mobilization. We invite you to add your own project materials or favorite tools by visiting the upload page. If you have any questions or comments, please contact the Compass team at info@thecompassforsbc.org.
Footnotes
[1] From: How to Mobilize Communities for Health and Social Change
References
Carter, Marian, et al. 2015. Community Engagement in Family Planning in the US: A Systematic Review. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 49:2. Retrieved from: https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/34594
Cicatelli Associates, New York State Center of Excellence for Family Planning and Reproductive Services. Community Engagement as a Strategy for Reaching Priority Populations. Retrieved from https://caiglobal.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=879&Itemid=1551
Sharman, Anjana, et al. 2018. Community Education and Engagement in Family Planning: Updated Systematic Review. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 55:5. Retrieved from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0749379718320919
Banner photo: A sex worker speaks at the All India Conference of Entertainment Workers in Kolkata, India. © 2007 Gopal Bhattacharjee, Courtesy of Photoshare
