Community Development: Chronic Needs - Article Example

Running head: Community development Community development Name xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Lecturer xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Date xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Discuss how a community (not by locality) can be defined. Provide in your discussion an example of a community where chronic needs are being addressed. Community is a term that has not only received numerous definitions but also has various applications. Community development considers major meaning of a community as being identity-based, issue-based and geographical (Gofin & Gofin, 2010). It can be defined geographically, that is, by location. Identity-based and issue-based, refers to a community with a common social interests and attributes or people living with HIV. Effective HIV measures have been on the increased as communities have taken initiative to get involved in improving their health. People living with HIV have come together to address the challenges and gaps they are facing as a community, support their families and individual. People have been involved in planning, implementing, designing, monitoring and evaluating and this has been the individuals feel part of the community. Ways used to maximize the involvement of the community include; communication and mobilization of people making them aware of the common needs and concerns and therefore, able to take the necessary action, community planning that will assist in identifying priorities in HIV-prevention and measures to be taken to decrease the spread. According to Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) (2006), the community has assisted both individual and groups through creating supporting community environment, mitigating discrimination and stigma and support in treatment. Therefore, a community may be defined as a group or groups on individual who are ready to achieve set objectives collectively rather as an individual. Regardless of whether its motive is to respond to a chronic need, pursuing of community development has shown that communities can solution through translating the ideas into action. Discuss with reference to the literature the community development concepts of participation and empowerment. Community development is an approach of the MDGs that aims to improve the living conditions of people in a particular area (Redzuan & Nikkhah, 2009). It aims at building lives of communities by involving them, emphasising on helping them change and develop in ways which they themselves desire, and with material aid of which they are willing to make effective use (Redzuan & Nikkhah, 2009). Though there is a tendency to mix up these two concepts especially due to the continuum of activities intertwining the two, each has its stake in community development and without them it could not be achieved (Samah & Aref, 2011). Community participation concept has been described by scholars along a continuum, as a means at one end of the contunuum, towards describing it as a process with some element of people’s control at the other end (Samah& Aref, 2011). As a means participation may be considered as an input toward goals. In mobilising community participation, the implementation model or approach, either top-bottom or bottom-top determines the results- active or passive. The real meaning of popular participation is an active process in which the people concerned pool their efforts and whatever resources they decide to pool together, to attain objectives they set for themselves (Redzuan & Nikkhah, 2009). As an end, participation is a process in which the initiative consumers are fully involved in shaping and building the initiative from the bottom-up approach. Empowerment is based on the concept of power and change. Every community development ought to bring sustainable change in a community. With power there ought to come change and expandability. Empowerment is a process and an end in which communities are able to sustainably take charge of their circumstances and achieve goals. In this reflexive activity, individuals gain and develop skills, competence and confidence, which is knowledge gathering (Samah & Aref, 2011). For sustainability and there is need to adapt structures in which the community participates, so that there is change. The Budapest Declaration definition of community development highlights the need to promote local “voice”, so that there is ability to be critical of set policies and political environments to ensure service to local interests (Noya et al, 2009). The Avahan- India AIDS Initiative: The Business of HIV Prevention at Scale The Avahan initiative was commissioned by the Bill and Melinda Gates in 2003 operating in six states providing prevention services to nearly 200,000 female sex workers, 60,000 high-risk men who have sex with men, and 20,000 injecting drug users, together with 5 million men at risk (Bill and Melinda Gates 2008, p.7). The initiative was initiated and run with objectives to build a model for HIV prevention, foster knowledge and learning on HIV/AIDS, and help other stake holders adopt and implement the model. Working with the government agencies and local NGOs and being directly present, the foundation ran programs. The prevention package entailed outreach services, needle and syringe provision and exchange for IDUs, behavior change education, free or socially marketed condoms, and treatment of STIs. The package also involved advocacy building, capacity building, and stigma alleviation. The foundation highly regards community involvement. As such the Avahan worked alongside high-risk communities reinforcing their individual and collective ability in adopting sustained change. It recruited community guides who mapped the high risk areas. Key partners were grass root NGOs, advocacy groups, leaders, media and individuals alleviating duplication chances. Skilled locals were recruited as peer-educators who mapped needs through micro-planning. The locals also worked in clinics, drop-in centers, as well as being special advisory resources. The initiative empowered the locals through education, and creating interaction platforms resulting in advocacy and support groups. With the support of the program, community members increasingly started shaping their local advocacy and being involved in negotiations with the local power structure (Bill and Gates Foundation, 2008). These groups have now diversified into economic units. There was also Avahan-led people-run advocacy addressing environmental hindrances to safe sex such as security and harassment, and ensuring continued sustained engagement of the government and civil society. Discuss with reference to the literature the community development concepts of capacity building. The Budapest Declaration details community development as not only a practice but also as having the goal of building the capacity of communities (Noya et al 2009, p.18). Community Capacity Building (CCB) description has met as wide diversity and application as community and community development. Relative to health promotion such as HIV/AIDS prevention, CCB has been defined as an approach to the development of skills, organizational structures, resources, and commitment to health improvement…to prolong and multiply health gains many times over (Waters et al, 2010). The WHO definition encapsulates concepts such as knowledge and skills development, and creation of systems, structures and leadership that enhance health promotion. The WHO glossary details tri-level action approach which involves the knowledge and skill building among personnel, support and infrastructural expansion and the development of cohesiveness and partnerships for developing health promotion interventions (Smith et al, 2006). CCB involves the interaction of lead organization running intervention and the communities. In a bid to enhance the capacity of community members in taking concerted self initiated role and the sociopolitical support, the organizations raise awareness and health literacy, create interaction and cohesiveness platforms, and assist in building social structures stimulating access to resources. The approach is to enable and link micro-level change, meso-level and macro-level changes at the political and policy levels (Waters, 2010) sustainable change. CCB depends on policy legitimacy which need be pursued on the bases of the individual as a consumer and of the community as a user. Prison HIV Peer Education: Report of the National Prison HIV Peer Education Project The national Prison HIV Peer Education Project was a project targeting the Australian prisoners, those living with and without HIV/AIDS. The project was run by the New South Wales Corrective Service Department Prison AIDS Project and the Centre for Information on Drugs and Alcohol in 1991(Robinson, 1994). The initiative aimed at not only educating stakeholders on prison HIV peer education, evaluating barriers and incentives but also to enhance individuals’ and stakeholders, ability in developing, implementing and evaluating prison HIV peer education. The processes of implementation detailed on stakeholder capacity building by the development of structures and support enabling the stakeholders tap in their own strengths and resources. It was built on the concept that all community members have something important to offer. The initiative targeted to incorporate prisoners, correctional departmental personnel and custodial officers. The project officer, a specialist in criminology, conducted interviews in various jurisdictions aiming at developing unique platform for each after there was a two-day seminar with representation from each jurisdiction. This seminar majored on the purpose of building networks for ongoing support and information exchange while offering support for individual initiative and as well streamlining the project to unique community needs. In implementation, peer prisoners educated fellow prisoners in matters of HIV/AIDS and STIs prevention. The peer approach was also being employed in the education of custodial officers, so that trained officers were providing HIV education to other officers (Robinson, 1994). Apart from changing attitudes, the education created and impediment-free environment by building the capacity of some of the insiders in advocating for positive health decisions. References Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (2008). Avahan-The India AIDS Initiative: The Business of HIV Prevention at Scale. New Delhi: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Gofin, R, Gofin, J, (2010). Essentials of Global Community Health, Ontaria: Jones & Bartlett Learning Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), (2006), Report on the Global AIDS epidemic. Geneva Noya, A., et al. (2009). Community Capacity Building: Creating a Better Future Together. Paris: OECD. Redzuan, M., & Nikkhah, H. (2009). Participation as a Medium of Empowerment in Community Development . Europen Journal of Social Sciences, Vol 11 (1) , 170-176. Robinson, J. (1994). Prison HIV Education: Report of the National Prison HIV Education Project. Canberra, Commonwealth Department of Human Services and Health Samah, A., & Aref, F. (2011). The Theoretical and Conceptual Framework and Application of Community Empowerment and Participation in Processes of Community Development in Malaysia. Journal of American Science, Vol7 (2) , 186-195. Smith, B., et al. (2006). WHO Health Promotion Glossary: new terms. Health Promotion International, Vol. 21 (4), 340-345 Waters, E., (2010) Preventing Childhood Obesity: evidence, policy and practice. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell World Health Organization (1998). Health Promotion Glossary. Geneva: WHO. Available at www.who.int/hpr/NPH/docs/hp_glossary_en.pdf Read More