COPAR- COMMUNITY ORGANIZING and

PARTICIPATORY ACTION RESEARCH

COPAR- an alternative approach to Community
Health Development.
Using PHC as an approach to health, the
community health nurse or community organizer
conduct community organization and participatory
action research not only for the purpose of
.

community health but also for the community

development
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➢COPAR approach to development does not mean that it
will eliminate all the existing problems in a very short period
of time. It could be a slow, but promising and a fulfilling way
of achieving health development.

➢COPAR is an important tool for community development

and people empowerment where community organizing is
not only utilize but also participatory action research to
intervene change and development in the families,
population groups and the entire community.
It is a continuous and sustained process of
educating, organizing, and mobilizing people
through community participation, action, and
research. It is otherwise known as a method of
people empowerment and community
development through guiding them to build and
manage an effective organization utilizing
.

community resources for health care mobilization

and
04 ensuring that they are efficiently equipped to
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be on their own in dealing or resolving their issues

in the community.
COPAR means a group of
people who identify a problem,
do something to resolve it, see
how successful their effort were,
and if not satisfied, try again
(O’Brien, 1998)
A social development approach that aims to transform the
apathetic, individualistic and voiceless poor into dynamic,
participatory and politically responsive community.

A collective, participatory, transformative, liberative,

sustained and systematic process of building people’s
organizations by mobilizing and enhancing the capabilities
.

and resources of the people for the resolution of their issues

and04concerns towards effecting change in their existing
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oppressive and exploitative conditions (1994 National Rural

Conference)
A process by which a community identifies its needs and
objectives, develops confidence to take action in respect to them
and in doing so, extends and develops cooperative and
collaborative attitudes and practices in the community (Ross
1967)

A continuous and sustained process of educating the people to

understand and develop their critical awareness of their existing
.

condition, working with the people collectively and efficiently on

their04immediate and long-term problems, and mobilizing the
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people to develop their capability and readiness to respond and

take action on their immediate needs towards solving their long-
term problems (CO: A manual of experience, PCPD)
Process
• The sequence of steps whereby members of a
community come together to critically assess to
evaluate community conditions and work together to
improve those conditions.

Structure
• Refers to a particular group of community members that
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work
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together for a common health and health related
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goals.
Emphasis
• Community working to solve its own problem.
• Direction is established internally and externally.
• Development and implementation of a specific project less
important than the development of the capacity of the
community to establish the project.
.

• Consciousness raising involves perceiving

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health and medical care within the total
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structure of society.
Importance
• COPAR is an important tool for community development and
people empowerment as this helps the community workers to
generate community participation in development activities.
• COPAR prepares people/clients to eventually take over the
management of a development programs in the
future.
• COPAR maximizes community participation
.

and involvement; community resources are

mobilized
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or community services.
Principles of COPAR
• People, especially the most oppressed,
exploited and deprived sectors are open to
change, have the capacity to change and are
able to bring about change.
• COPAR should be based on the interest of
the poorest sectors of society
.

• COPAR should lead to a self-reliant

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community and society.
COPAR Process
• A progressive cycle of action-reflection action
which begins with small, local and concrete
issues identified by the people and the
evaluation and the reflection of and on the
action taken by them.
• Consciousness through experimental learning
central to the COPAR process because it
.

places emphasis on learning that emerges

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from concrete action and which enriches
succeeding action.
The Reflection-Action process starts from people’s
analysis of their own context and builds in a cumulative
way, looking at the connections between local, national
and international levels. Participants follow a cycle of
reflection and action, which involves:
•Understanding the context
•Identifying and prioritizing an issue
•Planning and action
•Participatory monitoring and evaluation At each stage,
a variety of participatory tools are used to support
analysis and planning.
.

Reflection-Action is the foundation for building people’s

agency, starting with their own
conscientisation.
COPAR Process
• COPAR is participatory and mass-based
because it is primarily directed towards and
biased in favor of the poor, the powerless and
oppressed.
• COPAR is group-centered and not leader-
oriented. Leaders are identified, emerge and
are tested through action rather than
.

appointed or selected by some external force

or 04
entity.
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PHASES OF COPAR
•

1. Pre-entry Phase
• Is the initial phase of the organizing process
where the community/organizer looks for
communities to serve/help.
•It is considered the simplest phase in terms of
.

actual outputs, activities and strategies and

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time spent for it
PHASES OF COPAR
•

Pre-entry Phase

Activities include:
✓ Designing a plan for community development
including all its activities and strategies for
care development. .

✓ Designing criteria for the selection of site

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✓ Actually selecting the site for community care
Site Selection
• Initial networking with local government.
• Conduct preliminary social investigation.
PSI- a systematic process of collecting, synthesizing and
analyzing data to draw a clear picture of the community
- gathering data or information about the different
barangays for potential site of the program.
.

•Make long/short list of potential communities.

•Do ocular survey of listed communities.
Guide questions/ideas while conducting PSI
- Is the community in need of assistance
- Do the community members feel the need to work
together to overcome specific health problems
- Are there concerned groups and
organizations that can be working with
.

- What will be the counterpart of the

community in terms of community support,
commitment and
human resources
Criteria for Initial Site Selection

•Must have a population of 100-200 families.

•Economically depressed. No strong resistance
from the community.
•No serious peace and order problem.
•No similar group or organization holding the
.

same program.

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Indicators:
a. High percentage of the family income is below the
national poverty threshold
b. Lack of income opportunities for the residents
- employment and educational status

• Health services in the site are inaccessible or

inadequate to meet the needs of community residents
Indicators: .
a. Absence of a barangay health station or
if one exists, it is unmanned or non-operational
b. Lack of primary or secondary
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hospital within a 30-minute ride
from the area
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• Poor health status of the community
- determines the morbidity condition,
mortality rate and causes
- measures the height and weight for children
- appraise the garbage disposal system and facilities
Indicators:
.
1. High malnutrition rate
2. High infant mortality rate
3. lack of sanitary toilet
04 4. high incidence of
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communicable diseases
Identifying Potential Municipalities

•Make long/short list of potential municipalities

•Do the same process as in selecting municipality.
•Consult key informants and residents.
•Coordinate with local government and NGOs for
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future activities.

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Choosing Final Community
•Conduct informal interviews with community
residents and key informants.
•Determine the need of the program in the
community.
•Take note of political development.
•Develop community profiles for secondary data.
•Develop survey tools.
.

•Pay courtesy call to community leaders.

•Choose foster families based on
guidelines
Identifying Host Family

•House is strategically located in the community.

•Should not belong to the rich segment.
•Respected by both formal and informal leaders.
•Neighbors are not hesitant to enter the house.
•No member of the host family should be moving
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out in the community.

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PHASES OF COPAR
•

2. Entry Phase
•Sometimes called the social preparation phase as to the
activities done here includes the sensitization of the people on
the critical events in their life, innovating them to share their
dreams and ideas on how to manage their concerns
and eventually mobilizing them to take collective
action on these. .

•This04phase signals the actual entry of the

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community worker/organizer into

the community. She must be
guided by the following guidelines.
Guidelines for Entry
•Recognize the role of local authorities by paying them visits to
inform their presence and activities.
•Her appearance, speech, behavior and lifestyle should be in keeping
with those of the community residents without disregard of their
being role model.
•Avoid raising the consciousness of the community
.

residents; adopt a low-key profile.

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Activities in the Entry Phase

•Integration. Establishing rapport with the people in continuing

effort to imbibe community life.
• living with the community
• seek out to converse with people where they usually
congregate
.
• lend a hand in household chores
• avoid gambling and drinking

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Activities in the Entry Phase
•Deepening social investigation/community study
• verification and enrichment of data collected from initial survey
• conduct baseline survey by students, results relayed through
community assembly
Core Group Formation
•Leader spotting through sociogram.
• Key Persons. Approached by most people
.

• Opinion Leader. Approached by key persons

• Isolates. Never or hardly
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consulted
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Sociogramming- a systematic process of
identifying indigenous leaders in the community,
who can facilitate the change process specially in
mobilizing people.
➢ This is to help the CHDW to identify key persons,
opinion leaders, and deviants or isolates in the
community and get the identified indigenous
leaders to express their support to the COPAR
approach and its phase’s activities.
.

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Groundworking-a basic tactic used in
community organizing work where the organizer
goes around to motivate people and the
identified leaders on a one-to-one basis to do
something about an issue at hand, or to raise a
particular issue during a barangay meeting.
.

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Community Meeting or Assemblies-These are
series of the community gatherings where all
community members or household
representatives are enjoined to attend for the
following purposes:
•To collectively discuss, agree, plan, or act on
something that they have already decided or
thought about individually after a home visit or
.
groundworking activity.
•To give community folks their collective power
and confidence to act on
something.
3. COMMUNITY STUDY/DIAGNOSIS
PHASE (Research phase)- Comprehensive
documentation of the data about the community
gathered through social investigation.

Reasons why community as the primary client

1. Community has direct influence on the health of the
.

individuals, families
2. It is at this level that most health service
provision occurs
-Caring for the community starts with determining its health
status

➢ HEALTH STATUS- the product of the various interacting

elements such as population,
the physical and topographical characteristics, socio-economic
and cultural factors, health and basic social services and
the power structure
.
within the community.
• The interrelationship of these elements will explain
the health and illness patterns in the community
Community diagnosis is a basis for developing and
implementing community health nursing interventions
and strategies.
- Also known as community assessment or situational
analysis
- obtaining vital general information about the community
- collects data about the community in order to
identify the different factors that directly or indirectly
.

influence the health of the population

- Analyze and seek explanations for the
occurrence of health needs and
problems
In assessing the community, the following should be
taken as major Considerations
A. Power structure of the community
B. Attitudes of the people toward authority
C. Conditions/events/issues that cause
social conflict or that lead to social
bonding or unification
.

D. Practices/ approaches that are effective

in setting issues and concerns within the
community
4. COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION AND CAPABILITY-
BUILDING PHASE- consists of activities leading to the
formation of People’s Organization.
Rationale for Community Organization & building phase
1. To initiate and propagate goal-directed collective health efforts
2. People's/ community organization will be strengthened and
their membership expanded to enable them to meet their desired goal
3. The ability of the people to respond to their community
.
health needs will be developed through the aid of able
community health leaders equipped with adequate
knowledge and skills on health management (training)
ACTIVITIES:

1. Community meetings
- to draw up guidelines for the organization
- the creation of working committees and
assignments of persons to a particular task
.

maybe done during this time

2. Formation of community health organization
3. Election of officers
- may invite guest speakers and government
officials to conduct the officers
4. Development of management systems and
procedures, including delineation of the roles,
functions and tasks of officers and members
of the CHO
.
- conduct seminars to review the process of
management, set-up management systems
5. Working legal requirements for the
establishment of CHO
Legal requirements:
- constitution and by-laws
- registration papers
- guidelines for the election of officers
- board of incorporators and financial
.

statements, if planned to go to
livelihood projects
Technical requirements- related to the
operations of the community organization
- conduct of general assembly
- development of committees
( health committee, education and training
Committee)
.
6. Organization of working committees/task
groups
7. Training of CHO officers/community leaders
8. Team building activities
- inculcate the values of cooperation and
team work among the people
- teach leaders, officers and members how to
work together in harmony with the most
.

efficient result in work

5. COMMUNITY ACTION PHASE/ MOBILIZATION PHASE
A. Preparing a community health action plan

Health planning
Ultimate objective- to raise the level of health of the
population, which means improvement of the
health status in terms of natality, morbidity and
.

Mortality
- concern with the improvement of the
health services
- aims to deliver health services
to the majority of the people
There must be a wide base of participation in health planning.
Participation is one way of soliciting commitment to planning.
It reduces resistance to Change.

B. Community health care implementation

- refers to the actual implementation of plan,
.

mobilization of resources to met objectives,

and the active participation
of the people.
C. Monitoring and supervision
- monitoring without supervision, or supervision
without monitoring could not guarantee program
success, they should always go together to yield
better results.

Monitoring- the continuous/periodic review and

.

overseeing of an activity to ensure that required

actions are proceeding/happening according
to plan.
Supervision- refers to the activity conducted to enhance
efficient and effective performance of field implementers
-This is needed to facilitate program
implementation, observe or improve work
performance and make physical review of
records to identify deficiencies or non-
.

compliance with outputs

D. Organization and training of community
health workers (education and training
phase)

Education and Training

Purpose:
1. Prepare the members to eventually take
.

responsibility of running the organization and

the health program by themselves
2. To unify the members, residents on the goal, objectives and
methods
- this is done through regular planning and evaluation
sessions. Consultations, committee meetings and general
assemblies, small group discussions and
formal training sessions
- continuous and a never-ending process
.

- training and education activities should be

intensified and deepened
- emphasis is on basic knowledge, skills and
attitude development in leadership and
organizational management
- emphasis on organization building

F. Setting up of linkages/network referral systems

.
1. Recognizing all the professional and technical
personnel for their contribution in delivering
health care
2. Establishing a mechanism for joint planning, implementation
and evaluation of community health and other related programs
3. Promoting cooperation and teamwork among members of the
community to attain common goals and this then ensures:
- essential administrative, logistical and
technological support for local health operations
- financial support for local health activities
- supervision and training of health workers
6. Sustenance and Strengthening Phase
Occurs when the community organization has already been
established and the community members are already actively
participating in community-wide undertakings. At this point, the
different communities setup in the organization
building phase are already expected to be
functioning by way of planning, implementing
and evaluating their own programs with the
.

overall
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guidance
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from the
community-wide organization.
Strategies used may include:
• Education and training
• Networking and linkages
• Conduct of mobilization on health and development
concerns
• Implementing of livelihood projects
.

• Developing secondary leaders

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Key Activities
•Training of CHO for monitoring and implementing of community
health program.
•Identification of secondary leaders.
•Linkaging and networking.
•Conduct of mobilization on health and development concerns.
.
•Implementation of livelihood projects.
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Community Organizing is an enabling process where after
some time, the community organizers become dispensable and
the people's organization takes over.
- relationship between the organizer and the
community is TEMPORARY
.

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Activities (Turn over Phase)

1. Transfer of community organizing roles and

responsibilities
2. Conduct culminating program
- review objectives of the community
organizing
.

- community relationship
- highlights of community organizing process