COPAR PDF

COMMUNITY ORGANIZING DEFINITION: A process of educating and mobilizing members of the community to enable them to resolve community problems. It is a means to build the community capacity to work for the common good in general and health goals in particular. Basic values: ▪ Human rights – based on...

COMMUNITY ORGANIZING DEFINITION: A process of educating and mobilizing members of the community to enable them to resolve community problems. It is a means to build the community capacity to work for the common good in general and health goals in particular. Basic values: ▪ Human rights – based on the worth and dignity inherent to all human beings  Right to life  The right to development as person as a community  The freedom to make decisions for oneself ▪ Social justice – entails fairness in the distribution of resources to satisfy basic needs and to maintain dignity as human beings. ▪ Social responsibility – is premised on the belief that people as social beings must no limit themselves to their own concerns but should reach out to and move jointly with others in meeting common needs and problems; society has the responsibility to ensure an environment for the fullest development of each members. Core Principles: ▪ People centered – any community endeavor is that the people are the means and ends of development, and community development is the process and outcome. ▪ Participative – participation of the community must be ensured. Community is considered as the prime mover rather than beneficiaries and recipients, of development efforts including health care. ▪ Democratic – should empower the disadvantaged population. This allows majority of the of people to recognize and critically analyze their difficulties and articulate their aspirations. ▪ Developmental – should be directed towards changing current undesirable conditions. ▪ Process oriented – the goals of empowerment and development are achieved through a process of change. Organizers must diligently and patiently follow the community organizing process to achieve its goals. Most effective approaches in terms of development and empowerment are COPAR and Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR). COPAR or Community Organizing Participatory Action Research is a vital part of public health nursing. COPAR aims to transform the apathetic, individualistic and voiceless poor into dynamic, participatory and politically responsive community. Definition COPAR stands for Community Organizing Participatory Action Research ▪ 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 effecting change in their existing oppressive and exploitative conditions (1994 National Rural Conference). ELLA B. AALBURO CHN Instructor ▪ 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 their immediate and long-term problems, and mobilizing the 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 work together for a common health and health related 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 health and medical care within the total 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 for community services. Principles ▪ 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 sector of the community. ▪ COPAR should lead to a self-reliant community and society. Critical Steps 1. Integration 2. Social Investigation 3. Tentative program planning 4. Groundwork 5. Meeting 6. Role Play 7. Mobilization or action 8. Evaluation ELLA B. AALBURO CHN Instructor 9. Reflection 10. Organization Phases of COPAR COPAR has four phases namely: Pre-Entry Phase, Entry Phase, Organization-building phase, and sustenance and strengthening phase. 1. Pre-Entry Phase ▪ Is the initial phase of the organizing process where the community organizer looks for communities to serve and help. Activities include: 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. 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. 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 future activities. 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. ELLA B. AALBURO CHN Instructor  ▪ Neighbors are not hesitant to enter the house. ▪ No member of the host family should be moving out in the community. 2. Entry Phase Sometimes called the social preparation phase. Is crucial in determining which strategies for organizing would suit the chosen community. Success of the activities depend on how much the community organizers has integrated with the community. 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 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 ▪ 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 consulted 3. Organization-building Phase - This is also known as community involvement. Entails the formation of more formal structure and the inclusion of more formal procedure of planning, implementing, and evaluating community-wise activities. It is at this phase where the organized leaders or groups are being given training (formal, informal, OJT) to develop their style in managing their own concerns/programs. Key Activities ▪ Community Health Organization (CHO)  preparation of legal requirements  guidelines in the organization of the CHO by the core group  election of officers ▪ Research Team Committee ▪ Planning Committee ▪ Health Committee Organization ▪ Others ▪ Formation of by-laws by the CHO 4. Sustenance and Strengthening Phase ELLA B. AALBURO CHN Instructor 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 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 guidance from the community-wide organization. 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. Facilitators (or outsiders) withdraw from self-reliant groups who will now continue to implement the cycle of direction setting, organizing, planning implementation, and review for the benefit of the community members. Determining factors to ensure sustainability 1. Structure. It refers to the organizational structures both in the partnerships and in the communities. The capability of the people and the viability of the organization as a whole will greatly influence sustainability. 2. Skills development and technology transfer. The skills required to carry out the project activities must be fully developed and integrated in the partnership before the end of the project life. This should be preserved in the memory of the organization which eventually will help sustainability. 3. Systems. It includes the systems and procedures needed to formulate policies, plan, and make decisions on the day-to-day operation of the system. Consensus among the members and their responsiveness to the changing times will determine the prospects of sustainability. 4. Commitment. Participation in planning and decision making fosters greater commitment in the community. This is because it gives community members a true sense of ownership of the program as well as a sense of self-respect that flows from self-governance. When to phase out 1. When the objectives have been attained 2. When the impact of the project has become visible or change has been made 3. When the members of the community can take over the planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of the project 4. When the community resources can already be maximized by the people 5. When a viable community-based organization has been established Phase out strategy 1. Conduct of an impact assessment 2. Preparation of a comprehensive phase out action plan 3. Gradual pull-out of intervention 4. Institutionalization of the community organization with other agencies who provide support 5. Provision of consultancy services Steps in phase out 1. Determine factors to ensure sustainability ELLA B. AALBURO CHN Instructor  2. Determine when to phase out 3. Identify which strategy plans to phase out COMPARISON OF TRADITIONAL RESEARCH TO COPAR Points of Comparison Traditional Research COPAR Decision Making / ▪ Top – down ▪ Bottom-up. Emphasis ▪ Expert/nurse driven process ▪ Community-driven process ▪ Much premium is placed on the ▪ Premium is placed on the process data and output Roles ▪ Nurse as researcher: the ▪ Community members as community members are subjects researchers: the nurse is a or objects of research, usually facilitator and recorder. respondents ot the research ▪ Data analysis is done collectively by instrument. the community. ▪ Data analysis is done by the nurse, and then presented to the community. Methodology ▪ Research tools and methodologies ▪ Research tools and methodologies are predetermined/ prepackaged are identified and developed by the by the nurse organizer. community. Output ▪ Upon completion, the study is ▪ Conclusions and recommendations packaged, submitted to the agency, are made by the community. and published. ▪ These will lead to agreed ▪ Recommendations are made by the community actions/projects. researcher based on the findings of ▪ The whole research cycle continues the study. until it becomes part of community life, leading towards community development. ▪ Community members formulate the recommendations. ELLA B. AALBURO CHN Instructor