Community Organizing Participatory Action  Recreation

Research Community Organizing

(COPAR)  In its strictest definition refers to organizing
which takes place in a geographically
Presented by: defined living area, such as an urban poor
Rochelle P. Cabario, RN,RM community or a rural village
 A means for empowering people; its primary
Community is: aim is to transform a situation of societal
 A social group determined by: injustice, inequality and poverty.
 geographical boundaries  Both a process and an orientation; an
 common values and interest orientation for genuineness and liberating
 members know and interact with each other social transformation.
 creates norms, values and social institutions
Mike Miller’s Definition of CO:
Characteristics of A Healthy Community
 People are concerned with their health status - CO rectifies the problem of power imbalance
 Parents/Guardians are role models Transforming individuals from being passive into
 Health needs are accessible and affordable mutually respectful co-creators of public life
 Environmental and physiologic needs are
sustained  A social development approach that aims to
 Members are aware of their own health and transform the apathetic, individualistic and
biologic status. voiceless poor into a dynamic, participatory
 Attains independence and politically responsive community.
 Characteristics of A Healthy Community
 During the 1994 National Rural CO
 Gives credit to the governing body
Conference, CO was defined as a collective,
 Has a strong and reliable governing body
participatory, transformative, liberative,
 Everyone is working to attain HEALTH sustained and systematic process of building
CITIZENRY. people's organizations by mobilizing and
 Resources are open for everybody enhancing the capabilities and resources of
the people for the resolution of their issues
IN SHORT and concerns towards effecting change in
A healthy community is… their existing and oppressive exploitative
conditions.
PPHEMAGHER
Community Organizing
Characteristics:
 Human Biology History:
 Environment  Declaration of Martial Law in 1972 led to:
 Population  Elimination of formation of groups/organization
 Systems of health care grassroots activities were started by NGO’s and
church leaders like:
Classification:  Urban and Rural Missionaries of the
 Urban Philippines
 Rural  Task Force Detainees of the Philippines,
 Rurban  Episcopal Commission on Tribal Filipinos,
 Share and Care Apostolate for Poor Settlers
Components of A Community
 Core - PEOPLE SAUL ALINSKY – father of community
 8 sub-systems organizing
 Housing
 Education  1st Qtr 1970’s – CO was Philippine Ecumenical
 Fire and safety Council for Community Organization (PECCO).
 Politics/government  December 1972 – establishment of
 Health ASSOCIATION OF FOUNDATIONS with 10
 Communication system members
 Economy  From PECCO, ZOTO was born through the use
of ALINSKY’s method
 1976 – AF had total of 40 members including Community Development’s Assumptions
Philippine Alliance for Rural and Urban
Development (PARUD).  People’s worth and dignity are CD’s basic
 NGOs recognized the need to band together into values.
networks for purposes of linkaging,  Everyone has something to contribute
synchronization of activities, and cooperative  People have the ability to grow and learn
exchanges of experiences and resources.  Opportunity to reveal a new “SELF”
 Characteristics of Community Development
Principles of CO  It is for the entire community and community
life
 Brings about social change
 The social condition of the poor itself gives
 Finds solutions to community conflicts
opportunities to conscienticize the people.
 It is based on SELF-HELP and
 Tactics should be within the experience of the
PARTICIPATION
people and outside the experience of the target.
 CD’s programs should be based on a felt
 People generally act on the basis of their self- need/desire/aspiration
interest.  It is an educational process
 Man learns more effectively and more deeply  Involves technical assistance whether task or
from his own actual experiences. process goals
 The process of organizing moves from simple,
concrete, short term and personal issues to more Approaches to Community Development
complex, abstract, long-term and systemic
issues.  Welfare
 Man needs to deepen and widen his horizon,  Modernization
therefore, he must move from the particular to  Transformatory/ Participative
the universal, from the concrete to the abstract,
to apply one's experience and its lesson to Guiding Principles in Community
another situation. Development
 Throughout the organizing process, the people
must make their own decisions.  Participation by all
 Commitment
Types of CO  Voluntary involvement
 Democratic practices
 Grassroots  Transparency
 FBCO  Learning thru reflection
 Coalition  Flexibility
 Organized group
 Partnership between the people, NGO’s and
Strengths of Community Organizing LGUs
 Outsiders act as facilitators
 It is usually successful in building critical, self-
reliant, creative grassroots organizations COPAR
 Openness to experiment  A social development approach that aims to
 It is rooted in the community transform the apathetic, individualistic and
 Generates immediate success voiceless poor into dynamic, participatory and
 It immediately breaks the culture of silence, politically responsive community.
 As an approach for empowering people, it is
relatively simple and can be learned easily by  A collective, participatory, transformative,
anyone liberative, sustained and systematic process of
building people’s organizations
Key Principles in Community Organizing
Participative Culture  A process by which a community identifies its
needs and objectives, develops confidence to
 Inclusiveness take action
 Breadth of mission and vision
 Critical Perspective  A continuous and sustained process of educating
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

Importance of COPAR
 Important tool for CD and people empowerment
 Prepares community for self-independence
 Maximizes community participation and
involvement; community resources are
mobilized for community services.
Principles of COPAR
 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 sectors of society
 COPAR should lead to a self-reliant
community and society
PHC objectives of COPAR
 To make people aware of social realities
 To form structures that holds people’s basic
interests.
 To initiate responsible actions
Emphases of COPAR in PHC
 The members of the community work to solve
their own problems.
 The direction is internal rather than external
 The development of the capacity to establish a
project is more important than the project
 There is consciousness-raising with regards to
the situation of health care delivery within the
total structure of society
COPAR Process
 A progressive cycle of action-reflection action
 Consciousness through experimental learning
central to the COPAR process
 Is participatory and mass-based
 Is group-centered and not leader-oriented.
3 Dimensions of Participation
 Mode
 Intensity
 Effectiveness
Pre-entry Phase
1. Preparation of criteria and guidelines for area
selection
 Criteria for selection:
 Leaders and community are
receptive/supportive
 CO can serve as model for elimination/
reduction of diseases
 High prevalence of diseases
 Economically depressed
 Must have a population at ten thousand
and above
 As much as possible no RHU/BHS
 Phases in Guideline Preparations:
 Piloting
 Implementation of activities
2. Identification of target area
3. Assessment of target area
Entry Phase
1. Establishment with leaders and agencies
2. Immersion
A. Integration with the community
B. Identification of potential leaders
C. Information campaign on health Programs
D. Provision of basic health services
3. Agreement
4. Direction Setting
Guidelines for Health Care Worker
 Must recognize the role of local authorities
 Her appearance, style, speech and lifestyle
should be in keeping with those of the
community residents
 Must keep a low profile
Helping Phase
1. Community profiling and analysis
 Collection of primary data thru surveys
 Walk through of the community
 Collection of secondary data thru
interviews/review of records
 Data Analysis
2. Core group formation
3. Community planning Implementation
4. Monitoring and evaluation
Functions of Core Group

Phases of COPAR  Serve as a training ground for democratic and

collective leadership
1. Pre-entry phase  To build people’s potential and self-confidence
2. Entry phase  Help organizer gather data for deeper
3. Helping phase community studies and identify potential
4. Phase out/ sustenance phase secondary leaders
 Helps in laying out plans for formation and
maintenance of a community-wide organization
Problems in Data Gathering
 Uncooperative community
 Preventive measures:
 Proper info dissemination
 Conduct gen. assembly
 Proper explanation
 Defective or Inappropriate questionnaires
 Preventive measures
o Formulation of appropriate questionnaire
o Avoid using ready made questions
o Proper observation of the researcher
 Too many dead files
 Preventive measures:
 Researcher should be well taught on how
to fill up the forms
 Proper observation of the researcher
 Source is reliable
 Questioning techniques should be
reviewed and practiced
 Marking of the interviewed families
 Inconsistent data
 Preventive measures:
 Proper observation of the researcher
 Inform the source of info to answer
survey as honest as possible
 Avoid leading questions
 Questioning techniques should be
reviewed and practiced
 Lost/misplaced Documents
 Preventive measures
 Two copies should be prepared and kept
by 2 different researchers
 Consistency of the 2 copies
 Documents must be dealt with
confidentiality
Phase Out
Factors to ensure sustainability:
 Structure
 Skills development and technology transfer
 Systems
 Commitment
When to Phase OUT
 When the objectives have been attained
 Change has been made
 Members of the community are able to take over
the planning, implementation, monitoring and
evaluation
 Community resources can be already
maximized by the people
 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
 Determine factors to ensure sustainability
 Determine when to phase out
 Identify which strategy plans to phase out
 Strategies
 Education and training
 Networking and linkaging
 Conduct of mobilization on health and
development concern
 Implementation of livelihood projects
 Developing secondary leaders
Community Immersion Program
 Community health nursing practicum of health
care students.
 It is an integral part of CHN
General Objectives:
 Further develop the level of consciousness and
sensitivity of the community
 To provide proper motivation for the community
to respond to the health needs
 Specific Objectives
 Bring into consciousness of the actual plight of
the community’s condition
 Take active part in the management and
implementation of a program organization
 Respond to health needs of the community
 Acquire and develop skills
 Contribute to the enhancement process
Steps in Building People’s
Organization
1. INTEGRATION
 Immersion
 Understand the bio-socio-cultural aspect of
the community
Methods:
 Participation of the direct production of
activities of the people
 House visits
 Conversing with people where they usually
gather
 2. Social Investigation
- Known as community study Barriers to Building Organizing into
2. Tentative Program Planning CD Strategies
3. Groundwork  Community planning/development
4. The meeting organization often lack patience with the
5. Role Play commitment to organizing process.
6. Mobilization Approach  Definition of CO is tightly circumscribed.
7. Evaluation  There is a weak funding infrastructure
8. Reflection
9. Organization Application of COPAR in Community
Health Care Process
Social Mobilization
 Process of generating and sustaining the active 1. Community Assessment
and coordinated participation of all sectors at  COPAR strat used:
various levels to facilitate and accelerate - Integration
improvement - Social investigation
- Ground working
SM Perspective - People participation
1. It is a continuing process 2. Planning
2. Cyclical and dynamic; it has neither - Objective
beginning nor end - Activities
3. It is a deliberate strategy
3. Program Implementation
SM Benefits 4. Program monitoring and evaluation
 It raises people’s morale Types of evaluation
 Promotes sense of belonging 1. Impact evaluation
 Makes people committed to health work 2. Cost-effective analysis
 Contributes to wider development of the
community Community Diagnosis
 Enhances health care delivery o Process by which the health worker collects
data about the community
Factors Affecting SM
 Socio-economic environment o Types:
 Local culture, traditions and customs  Comprehensive
 Access  Problem- oriented
 Availability of resources Phases:
 Level of health literacy  Preparatory Phase
 Implementation Phase
Levels of SM  Evaluation Phase
 Individual
 Family Qualities of Health Workers in
 Community Community Settings
 Open
STEPS in SM  Tactful
 Coordinator
 IEC  Objective
 Community Organizing  Good Listener
 Training and orientation  Efficient
 Networking  Flexible
 Monitoring and Evaluation
 Feedback Functions of a Health Care Worker
 Community Health Service Provider
ABCD of IEC?  Facilitator
 Health Counselor
A = audience – target audience  Co-researcher
B = behaviour – what type of behavior  Member of a team
C = condition – under what condition  Health Educator
D = degree – to what extent
Qualities of An Organizer
COPAR Document Guidelines
 Irreverence  Title:
 A Sense of humor  title and table number
 Creativity  Barangay name
 Flexibility  Zone Number
 Tenacity  District Number
 A genuine love for the people  Date of Survey
 Table of comparison
Role of an Organizer  Shows percentage and frequency of the
 Facilitator compared data
 Animator  Shows the comparison between the variables
 Enabler  Legends
 Catalyst  Graphs
 Data Analysis
Goals of an Organizer

 Task Goals – goals concerned with the

identification of objectives and the development “What follows is for those who want to
of the means and resources to carry them out or change the world from what it is to what
implement them.
they believe it should be. “ (Saul Alinsky)
 Process Goals – refer to the enhancement and
strengthening of the community members,
competence for participation, self-direction and
cooperation.
 Relationship Goals – focus on changing certain
types of social relationships and decision
making patterns in the community.

Organizer’s Must Have Skills

 Interpersonal Skills
 Analytical skills
 Organization Development Skills
 Training Skills

COPAR Document Guidelines

1. Acknowledgements
2. Introduction
3. Table of contents
4. Community Profile
5. Vicinity Map
6. Spot Map
7. Barangay Org chart
8. Health Center Org Chart
9. Family Structure
10. Socio-Economic % cultural
11. Home & Environment
12. Knowledge and concept of health care
13. Responsible parenthood
14. Data on Community Development
15. Community Problems & recommendations
16. Appendices