Community Organizing and Community Building

Community Organizing and Community Building:

The best way to evaluate the needs of a community is through community mapping. This can be accomplished through the use of building blocks, which can be categorized into primary, secondary or potential building blocks. There are a variety of building blocks that communities can utilize with any health promotion or health education program. Primary building blocks are subdivided into individual assets and organizational assets. Individual assets include skills and abilities of residents, personal income and individual businesses (McKenzie, Neiger & Thackeray, 2013, p.272). Examples of organizational assets include religious organizations, communication organizations, financial institutions and citizens associations (McKenzie et al, 2013, p. 272). Secondary building blocks include private and nonprofit organizations like hospitals and social services groups.

I am going to focus on the acronym KEEPRA for my community building blocks prevention program on HAIs. KEEPRA represents institutions found in most communities: Kinship, Economics, Education, Politics, Religion and Associations (Beaulieu, n.d). While many patients’ family members are involved in their healthcare, other family members show little to no interest. My community plan will attempt to involve those family members more by asking questions on their loved one’s care. For example, I will post banners that say, “Talk to your health provider about your loved one’s safety on healthcare associated infections.” I am also hoping that posting data on HAIs will also influence the economy of the communities where the healthcare facilities are located. By posting data individuals can hopefully pick a facility that meets their needs. People want to receive care where they can feel protected and know they are in good hands. Political backing is important to change or create new legislation. If I am going to try and make HAI reporting mandated for all states I will need political support from state and local political officials. Religious institutions play a vital role in communities, and they are also important in fulfilling the spiritual needs in healthcare facilities. Many patients would not make it without the support and guidance of the hospital chaplain. Finally, I will look for different associations within the community to help promote my health promotion program. The hospital I am employed at is a teaching hospital for nurses. We have four colleges that have their clinical rotations at AnMed. Getting the colleges involved in the intervention on HAIs is a great way to not only promote the program at the hospital, but spread knowledge back to the campus as well. The word KEEPRA is a great word to remember the major institutions in your community.

Reference:

McKenzie, J., Neiger, B., Thackeray, R., (2013). Planning, implementing & evaluating health promotion programs. (6thed.) Glenview, IL: Pearson Education

Beaulieu, L. (n.d). Mapping the Assets of Your Community: A Key Component for Building Local Capacity. Retrieved from