COMMUNITY MOBILISATION

BY
RALPH D. DAGOE
 .
• OBJECTIVES
• By the end of session students 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 region 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 the process of engaging
communities to identify;
• community priorities,
• resources,
• needs and solutions
• in such a way as to promote representative participation,
good governance, accountability and peaceful change.
.
AIMS OF COMMUNITY MOBILISATION
• 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 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, livelihood 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 MOBILISATION 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 certain objectives
• Selection of target group
• Action 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
• 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 grow, 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
health 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 of the 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.