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Introduction
Empowering individuals or groups gives people the ability to accomplish a specific objective. According to Warner (1988), empowerment is a process by which disadvantaged individuals work collaboratively to increase control over conditions that affect their lives (p.8). Empowerment embodies the notion that something must arise from inside someone or group which is not given.
The concept of empowerment can take two perspectives. Often health promoters tend to view empowerment as a process for accomplishing an objective. Secondly, it can be perceived as an outcome, which is specific to the individual, group or community concerned. Usually, it takes a long period before the outcomes of community empowerment begins to show (Laverack 2005, p.3). This conviction must form an important component in the design of health promotion programmes.
Strategies
Community empowerment develops from individual to group, and embodies the objective to trigger social and political transformation in support of the community that embarks on the course. Health promoters can best consider this process as a continuum signifying progressively more arranged and broadly based modes of social and joint actions (Laverack 2005, p.4). The preceding paragraphs discuss strategies for community empowerment viewed as a five-point continuum.
Empowering individuals
Empowering individual members for personal action requires participation in small interest groups to analyze and act on issues of concern. Regarding health promotion, the developing stage of a program through definition of needs, defines the basis for individual involvement. Thus, according to Laverack, it is necessary that programs employ approaches to build a structure and a personal way forward towards joint action (2005, p.4). However, if health practitioners only target the individual, they risk personalizing the issue and if they only target structural issues, they run the risk of overlooking the direct need of many individuals.
The establishment of small interest groups
The concerned individuals developing a small group usually mark the beginning of collective action. This phase offers opportunity for health supporters to help individuals acquire skills and develop stronger social support structures, opportunity networks, social cohesions and interpersonal connectedness.
The responsibility of the health practitioner at this phase is to mobilize people in small groups about their live issues using an approach that is not too decisive. These groups include the following as explored by Laverack (2005, p.4):
- Self-help groups based on a particular concern: Members of self-help groups often have a common interest and knowledge of the issue, are participatory and supportive and often organized and managed by the members;
- Community health groups that collaborate to campaign for a particular issue including, environmental pollution or transport needs of socially marginalised groups affecting the community;
- Community development health projects including neighbourhood-centred projects setup to address problems of local concern including poor housing that is supported by government and a paid community health worker.
However, conflict concerning internal issues may arise during a transformation from self-help to a social action orientation. Problem evaluation can help to address conflict and expand capacity when the community undertakes the definition of problems, answers to the problem and intervention to resolve the problems. When the community lacks in skill, the responsibility of the practitioner will be to help the community assess its own problems. Importantly, health supporters should be ready to listen to the views of the community regardless of their position on the matter, and they must be dedicated to progressing and developing these issues.
Community organizations
Community organizations systems include associations, cooperatives, community councils, youth groups and faith groups. They provide small groups with opportunity to make transitions to partnerships and subsequently to social and political action. Community organizations enable individuals to be more critically aware of the overall issues affecting the community besides learning the skills for evaluating their immediate problems.
Paulo Freire developed the strategies for increasing knowledge of the broader social and political problems that affect the determinants of health. He argued that an understanding of the basic causes of powerlessness is a determinant characteristic of empowerment and approaches to develop this proficiency in health promotion entails photo choice (Wang and Pies 2004).
The establishment of an effective community organization relies on strong local leadership skill. Goodman, Speers, McLeroy, Fawcett, Kegler, Parker, Rathgeb, Sterling, and Grace (1991), argued that, a varied approach in the community involving positional leader, who have been appointed and the reputational leaders, who informally serve the community, is more likely to enhance community capacity.
Partnerships
Linking with other groups having a common interest increases community organizations efficacy in effecting higher-level policy decision making. Community organizations, through partnership, can reinforce social networks, enhance participation in the concerns of other member organizations, and increase competitiveness for limited resources.
Partnership allows community organizations to extend past their local concerns and to assume a stronger position on general concerns through advocacy and networking. The significant empowerment issue is to maintain focus on the common interest that binds the groups, but not on the individual concerns of the members in the partnership.
Social and political action
When concerned individuals are maintained in small groups, they might not resolve the event accountable for their powerlessness. Likewise, when individuals engage in conventional methods of lobbying via community organization and partnership development devoid of political action, they might fail to compel authorities concerned with political and economic decisions to listen.
Gaining authority to influence ideological, social, political, and economic change will unavoidably engage the community in a struggle with the authorities. A health-supporting agency, in a programme context, will become handy in helping communities develop capacity, helping others empower themselves, and providing resources.
Conclusion
These strategies can help health promoters to achieve success in their efforts to empower members of the community. These strategies can be categorized into addressing community issues; developing partnership, building community capacity; and exchange of ideas and visions between stakeholders.
Reference list
Goodman, M., Speers, A., McLeroy, K., Fawcett, S., Kegler, M., Parker, E., Rathgeb, S., Sterling, D., & Grace, V.M., 1991. The marketing of empowerment and the construction of the health consumer: a critique of health promotion. International Journal of Health Services, 21(2), pp.329-43.
Laverack, G., 2005. Empowerment. Geneva: TDR.
Wang, C.C., & Pies, C.A., 2004. Family, maternal and child health through Photovoice. Maternal and child health journal, 8(2), pp.95-102.
Warner, D., 1988. Empowerment and Health. Christian Medical Commission 102, 1-9.
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