COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

Community Development

- Community development is a process where people come together to take action on what's important to them.
- At its heart, community development is rooted in the belief that all people should have access to health, wellbeing, wealth,
justice and opportunity.
- Community development is fundamentally based on the values of human rights, social justice, equality and respect for
diversity.
- COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT is also understood as a professional discipline, and is defined by the International Association for
Community Development as "a practice-based profession and an academic discipline that promotes participative democracy,
sustainable development, rights, economic opportunity, equality and social justice, through the organization, education and
empowerment of people within their communities, whether these be of locality, identity or interest, in urban and rural
settings".
- COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT seeks to empower individuals and groups of people with the skills they need to effect change
within their communities. These skills are often created through the formation of social groups working for a common agenda.
Community developers must understand both how to work with individuals and how to affect communities' positions within
the context of larger social institutions.

What is the purpose of community development?

- Its key purpose is to build communities based on justice, equality and mutual respect. Community development involves
changing the relationships between ordinary people and people in positions of power, so that everyone can take part in the
issues that affect their lives.

What is the community development approach?

- The community development approach is a way of working with communities and people to set agendas and organize.
Community development is a long–term value-based process which aims to address imbalances in power and bring about
change founded on social justice, equality and inclusion.

WELFARE APPROACH

- The immediate and or spontaneous response to ameliorate the manifestation of poverty, especially on the personal level.
- Assumes that poverty is God given; destined, hence the poor should accept their condition since they will receive their just
reward in heaven.
- Believes that poverty is caused by bad luck, natural disasters and certain circumstances which are beyond the control or
people.

MODERNIZATION APPROACH

- Also referred to as the project development approach.

- Introduces whatever resources are lacking in a given community.
- Also considered a national strategy which adopts the western mode of technological development.
- Assumes that development consist of abandoning the traditional methods of doing things and must adopt the technology of
industrial countries.
- Believes that poverty is due to lack of education, lack of resources such as capital and technology

TRANSFORMATORY APPROACH

- Also refer to as the participatory approach

- The process of empowering or transforming the poor and the oppressed sectors of society so that they can pursue a more just
and humane society.
- Assumes that poverty is not God given, rather it is rooted in the historical past and is maintained by the oppressive structures
in society.
- Believes that poverty is caused by prevalence of exploitation, oppression, domination and other unjust structures

Community Organizing Participatory Action Research (COPAR)

- 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 and concerns towards
effective change in their existing oppressive and exploitative conditions
- 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.
- A continuous and sustained process of educating the people to understand and develop their critical awareness of their
existing conditions, working with the people collectively and efficiently on their immediate ang long term problems and
mobilizing the people to develop their capability and readiness to respond and take action on their immediate needs toward
solving their long-term problems.

Importance of COPAR

- 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 maximize community participation and involvement;
community resources are mobilized for community services.

Principles of COPAR

1. 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.
2. COPAR should be based on the interest of the poorest sectors of the society
 3. COPAR should lead to a self-reliant community and society.

Process or Methods Used

1. A progressive cycle of ARAS which begins with small, local and concrete issues identified by the people and the evaluation
and reflection of and on the action taken by them
2. CONSCIOUSNESS RAISING through experiential learning is central to the COPAR process because it places emphasis on
learning that emerges from concrete action and which enriches succeeding action
3. COPAR is PARTICIPATORY and MASS BASED because it is primarily directed towards and unbiased in favor of the poor,
the powerless and the oppressed
4. COPAR is GROUPED CENTERED ad NOT LEADER ORIENTED. Leaders are identified, emerge and are tested through
action rather than appointed or selected by some external force or entity

Phases of COPAR Process

Pre-Entry Phase

- Initial/simplest phase of the organizing process where the community/organizer looks for community to serve/help.
- It is considered the simplest phase in terms of actual outputs, activities and strategies and time spent for it.
- Activities includes:
1. Designing a plan for community development including all its activities and strategies for care/development.\
2. Designing criteria for the site selection:
2.1. community should be depressed
2.2. no duplication of services rendered
2.3. no peace and order problem
2.4. no strong resistance from the community people
2.5. with increase rate of morbidity and mortality rate
3. Actual selection the site for community care: prioritization
4. Identification of potential leaders.

Preparation of the Institution

- Train faculty and students in COPAR.

- Formulate plans for institutionalizing COPAR.
- Revise/enrich curriculum and immersion program.
- Coordinate participants of other departments.

Site Selection

- Initial networking with local government.

- Conduct preliminary special investigation.
- Make long/short list of potential communities.
- Do ocular survey of listed communities.

Entry Phase

- Sometimes called the social preparation phase as it the activities done here includes the sensitization of the people on the
critical events in their life, motivating them to share their dreams and ideas on how to manage their concerns and eventually
mobilizing them to take collective actions.
- This phase signals the actual entry of the community worker/organizer into the community. They must be guided by the
following guidelines:
1. Recognize the role of local authorities by paying them visits to inform them of their presence and activities.
2. Their appearance, speech, behavior and lifestyle should be in keeping with those of the community residents without
disregard of their being role models.

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.
- Activities includes:
1. Core group formation
2. Orientation
3. SALT 1

Organizational Building Phase

- Entails the formation of more formal structure and the inclusion of more formal procedures of planning, implementing and
evaluating community wide activities.
- It is at this phase where the organized leaders or groups are being given trainings to develop their AKS in managing their own
concerns or programs.
- Activities:
1. Organized CHO
2. SALT II
3. Meet and Plan

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 committees set up in the organization building phase are already expected to be functioning by way
of planning, implementing and evaluating their own programs, with the overall guidance from the community wide
organization.
- Strategies used may include:
1. Education and Trainings,
2. Networking and Linkaging,
3. Conduct of mobilization on health and development concerns,
4. Implementation of livelihood projects, and
5. Developing secondary leaders.

PHASE OUT PHASE

- Considered as the turn over phase of the process

- Emphasize the monitoring and evaluation of the process done

EVALUATION

- Is an essential component of planning and should be built in as the plan of services if considered
- Is a process that is designed to show the relationship between services rendered and the objective or purpose of the service/
- unit/care provider.
- Not a record nor count of what was done but of what DIFFERENCE the doing made.
- Is mainly used to help in the selection and design of future plans/program/projects
- Is assessment of whether or not the planned project strategy actually worked for the community
- TYPES:
o IMPACT EVALUATION: estimates the impacts of the project or program on the community by comparing the
conditions of the affected groups after it has taken place with what would have been
o COST EFFECTIVE ANALYSIS: is done to compare alternative projects/intervention in terms of the cost of
producing a given output.

MONITORING

- Is an internal projects/intervention activity concerned to assess whether resources are being used as intended and whether
they are producing the intended outputs.

Both Monitoring and Evaluation:

 Are vital elements of project management

 Are interrelated processes
 Requires baseline information and documentation during implementation of the process.

Critical steps (activities) in buildings people’s organization

1. INTEGRATION: a CO becoming one with the people in order to:

1.1. Immerse themselves in the poor community

1.2. Understand deeply the culture, economy, leaders, history, rhythms and life style in the community

METHODS of Integration include:

1. Participation in direct production activities of the people

2. Conduct of house to house visit
3. Participation in community activities such as birthdays, fiestas, wakes etc.
4. Conversing where people where they usually gather such as in stores, water wells, washing streams or in church yard.
5. Helping out in household chores like cooking, washing the dishes etc.

2. SOCIAL INVESTIGATION: a systematic process of collecting, collating, analysing data to draw a clear picture of the
community.
- Also known as the community study.
- Pointers for the conduct of social investigation:
i. Use of survey questionnaire is discouraged
ii. Community leaders can be trained
iii. Data can be more effectively and efficiently collected through informal methods.
iv. Secondary data should be thoroughly examined
v. SI is facilitated if the CO/community worker is properly integrated
vi. Confirmation and validation of community data should be done regularly
3. TENTATIVE PROGRAM PLANNING: CO to choose one issue to work on in order to begin organizing the people.
4. GROUNDWORKING: going around and motivating the people on a one on one basis to do something on the issue that has
been chosen.
5. THE MEETING: people collectively ratifying what they have already decided individually.
6. ROLE PLAY: means to act out the meeting that will take place between the leaders of the people and the government
representatives.
7. MOBILIZATION OR ACTION: actual experience of the people in confronting the powerful and the actual exercises of
people power.
8. EVALUATION: the people reviewing the steps 1-7 so as to determine whether they were successful or not in their objectives.
9. REFLECTION: dealing with deeper, ongoing concerns to look at the positive values CO is trying to build in the organization.
10. ORGANIZATION: the people’s organization is the result of many successive and similar actions of the people.

ROLES and ACTIVITIES in COMMUNITY HEALTH CARE DEVELOPMENT

As a RECORDER/DOCUMENTOR/REPORTER

- Community worker keeps a written account of services rendered, observation, conditions, needs, problems and attitudes of
the clientele in community development activities, accomplishment made.
- Community worker takes responsibility to disseminate pertinent information to appropriate authorities, agencies and most
especially to the client/community.
- At the same time, the community worker develops the people’s capabilities to keep/maintain their own recording and
reporting system.
- PURPOSE:
1. Measure service or programs directed to the clients,
2. Provide basis for future planning,
3. Interpret the work to the public and other agencies,
4. Aid in studying the conditions of the community, and
5. Contribute to client care.

Effective and useful reports depend upon certain basic principles such as:

1. All items should be carefully selected in order to give significant information.

2. Reports are of the most interest value when they are arranged so that comparison may be made between successive
periods of time.
3. Reports are of value only when the items included carry a common meaning to all who make use of them.
4. Reports are more readily received when presented in an interesting manner.