• COMMUNITY ENTRY,

SURVEY, ASSESSMENT AND

DIAGNOSIS
 Techniques Used To Establish Community Health Activities

Below are the steps

taken to establish Community Community
Community entry
community health Assessment (Diagnosis)
activity

Community Community Community Community

mobilization organization empowerment participation
COMMUNITY ENTRY
The idea of
community entry
presents six questions

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 COMMUNITY
ENTRY
• Community entry refers to the process of initiating,
nurturing, and sustaining a desirable relationship
with the purpose of securing and sustaining a
community’s interest in all aspects of a programme.

 It involves recognizing the community, its

leadership and people, and adopting the most
appropriate process in meeting, interacting,
and working with them.
 Importance of
community entry
• A process of entering a • Leads to sustainability
Community target community using • To carry out a Preliminary
study about that community
the protocol
entry • For identification of
potential partners to work
• OR a process where one with
gets to know the status of • Meeting the influential
the community and learns member of the community
how best one can help the for proper planning.
community following the • Data review about the
normal steps. community’s health status
and problems.
Advantages of
Community Entry
• It helps to observe protocols;
• It helps to gain support;
• It ensures the establishment of good
working relationship; and
• It ensures that objectives are
achieved.
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Factors to • Community structures
consider • Proper timing
when • Appropriate target
entering a • Approach methodologies
community
 1. Preliminary study of the community: This involves
knowing the community’s location, population size,
Steps in climate conditions, educations, ethnicity, economic
status, standard of living, occupation, religion.
community entry 2. Contact the community leaders: This involves
meeting the community influential i.e. L.Cs, the
CORPS etc. introduce yourself; explain the purpose
of your call.
3. Sensitization meeting: This is done with various
community leaders and other key partners to seek
their commitment and support.
4. Identification of potential partners: Identification of
potential partners to work within the community, to
get the work done successfully.
5. Design a social map of the community: To act as
guideline in your movements.
 • Collection of information on the community
(needs assessment) is done through;
• reading of annual reports from the District
Health Management Team (DHMT),
newspapers, or health journals.
• Key informants are instrumental
Preliminary study of the • collect informal information about the
community/Collecting community (this is done through interview
Information with individuals, through focus groups
discussion, through mapping, contact opinion
leaders, through house to house census)
• Transect walk and observation.

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 Contact the community leaders

• It is very important to recognize the position and roles of

the community health leaders in order that they will help
us to develop ways of seeking cooperation and support for
programme implementation, remember to schedule
appropriate times for the traditional leaders

•Follow protocol

•Meet LC’s and elders and discuss your mission

 1. Greet chief and elders.
2. Introduce yourself to the chief, elders
and other local leaders.
Contact the 3. Inform them of your work with them.
community leaders 4. Ask for their permission and advice
5. State your mission e.g. getting
information about the village or
introduction of new health
programme.
6. Thank them for their co-operation.
 Sensitization meeting:

• Arrange to meet with the key community leaders first as individuals then
as a group.
• It is very important to recognise the position and roles of the community
leaders in order that they will help to develop ways in seeking their co-
operation and support for programme Implementation.
• In meeting with chiefs and their elders, it is important to schedule meeting
times to suit their convenience.
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 Interactions Cont’d
Follow protocol;
• Meet the chiefs and elders first
• Meet the director of health services (Once project is a health-related one); and
• Meet interest groups and ‘relevant’ personalities in the community
• In meeting with stakeholders, it is important to schedule meeting times to suit
their convenience.
• In your group meeting with the leaders;
 Carry drinks/cola along (depending on the part of country you are);
 Brief them on what you are there to do;
 Ask them to freely support you; and
 Study and be conversant with the custom and tradition of the people
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ROLE PLAY

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 Interactions Cont’d
• At the group meeting;
 Agree on date,
 roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders,
 venue,
 time,
 agenda and
 other logistics for the open community meeting after obtaining their
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support for the programme.
 Identification of potential
partners
• Outline potential partners participation and
strategies
• Stakeholder participation strategy should be
outlined according to;
• Interest, importance, and influence
• Apart from the chiefs and elders, there are
various interest groups and personalities in every
community who must be identified to serve as
contact persons in working with the community
• e.g Community own resource person [corps] like
Community Health Workers, Traditional Birth
Attendants (TBA), Traditional healers etc
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 Contact the community leaders

Outline stakeholder participation and strategies

o Stakeholder participation strategy should be outlined according to;

 Interest, importance, and influence

 Particular effort is needed to involve important stakeholders who lack
influence

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 Identification of potential partners

 Assess potential partners/stakeholder interests and the potential impact of

the programme on these interests
o What are the stakeholders’ expectations of the project?
o What benefits and costs are there likely to be for the stakeholders?
o What resources are stakeholders able and willing to bring on board?

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 Stakeholder/ potential partners
Assess stakeholder influence and importance
o Political, social, and economic power and status.
o Degree of organisation

 some can organise certain things better than others.

o Control of strategic resources
o Informal influence (access to leaders, ability to shape public opinion, social
networks).
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 Advantages Using Contact Persons

• Good organisers people respect their authority.

• Their presence helps people see the issues as important.
• Trust by their people.
• They are credible
 Disadvantages

• Sometimes not respected-so people may not come to the

meeting.

• Presence at meetings may discourage people from talking.

 Design a social map of the community
• Mapping out is done through the use of;
transect walks (systematic walk along a defined path across
the community/project to explore social conditions by
observing, asking, listening, looking, and producing a
transect diagram); and
social mapping (a visual method of showing the relative
location of households).
Community Map
Skills and Attitudes Required in undertaking Effective
Community Entry

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 oMaintain good eye contact.
oListen to both sides of the issue
oParaphrase
Skills oShow interest
oBe empathetic 27

oEncourage others to listen.

 oPatience
oTolerance

Attitudes oRespect for other people

oGood listening attitude
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oHumility
 • It is also important to;
 Ensure that community members understand the
message and are encouraged to ask questions
when necessary.

Skills and  Ensure that message is clear and avoid

unnecessary semantics and jargons.
Attitudes  Encourage effective dialogue through the use of
effective 2- way communication skills.
 Create humour and interact in a way that helps to
build the environment for effective interpersonal 29

relationships.
 REFERENCE
• Basavanthappa, B.T. (2016). Community health nursing for BSc and PB BSc nursing
students: free practice workbook (2 Volumes). Malaysia: Jaypee Brothers Medical
Publishers Ltd.