

NCM 113-COMMUNITY HEALTH NURSING II

NCM 113
COMMUNITY HEALTH NURSING II

 Concepts and principles in the care of

communities and population groups
across the lifespan utilizing
community organizing strategies
toward health promotion, disease
prevention and community
development.
Course Outcomes:
At the end of the course and given actual or
simulated situations/conditions, the learner
will be able to:
 Apply knowledge of physical, social, natural
and health sciences and humanities in caring
for communities and population groups.
 Utilizes the nursing process in caring for
communities and population groups.
 Apply guidelines and principles of evidence-
based practice in caring for communities and
population groups
 Practice nursing in accordance with the
existing laws, legal, ethical and moral
principles in the care for communities and
population groups
 Communicate effectively in speaking, writing
and presenting using culturally-appropriate
language in the delivery of care for
communities and population groups.
 Report and document up-to-date client care
accurately and comprehensively.
 Applies principles of partnership and
collaboration to improve delivery of health
services for communities and population
groups.
 Manage care for communities and
population groups.
 Participate in QI/QA activities in
communities and population groups.
 Participate in varied continuing professional
development activities in caring for
communities and population groups
 Practice the core values of the Philippine
Nursing Profession in caring for communities
and population groups
 Apply techno-intelligent care systems and
processes in health care delivery for
communities and population groups
 Adopt the nursing core values in the practice
of the profession in caring for communities
and population groups
 Apply entrepreneurial skills in the delivery of
nursing care for communities and population
groups.
Assignment: Community Organizing
 Select one article or
chapter in a book to
highlight from the readings
 You are to include:
1) brief summary;
2) your opinion about it;
3) the most interesting
point;
4) a reason why you think it
is an important article;
5) its relevance for
community organizing.
➢ Community organizing, one of the methods in
community development, is a Western concept
adopted in the Philippines. The different
definitions of foreign and local authors highlight
the nature of community organizing as a
process by which a community identifies its
problems and finds solutions through collective
mobilization of the people and resources.
INTRODUCTION TO THE COURSE -
COMMUNITY ORGANIZING: DEVELOPING
PEOPLE EMPOWERMENT
1. Community Organizing process as a strategy
in developing people’s empowerment
a. Definition of terms
- Community Organizing
- Community development
- Community health development
 
Definition of Community Organizing

Different authors have defined community organizing in

various ways.
(Ross, 1993) defined community organizing as a
process by which the community:
1. Identifies its needs or objectives
2. Orders or ranks these needs or objectives
3. Develops the confidence and will to work at
these needs and objectives
4. Finds the resources to deal with needs and
objectives
5. Takes action concerning their needs
6. Develops cooperative and collaborative attitudes
and practices in the community
 

Kramer and Specht (1975) emphasize the role of a

professional change agent when they define community
organization as:
“Various methods of intervention, whereby a professional
change agent helps a community action system composed
of individuals, groups, or organization to engage in planned
collective action in order to deal with social problems
within a democratic system of values. It is concerned with
programs aimed at social change with primary reference to
environmental conditions and social institutions”
 

Murphy and Cunningham (2003) emphasized

place-based community organizing, which they define as:
“a process in which local people, united by concern
for renewing their own small territory, plan and act
together from an organizational base that they
control. It is a practice that involves collective
human effort centered on mobilization, advocating,
planning, and the negotiation of resources”
 

Local authors have also defined community

organizing, and Manalili (1990) provided one of
the early definitions and said that:
“Community organizing is a process that revolves
around the people’s lives, experiences, and
aspirations. It is a process that is people-centered
and geared towards [the] continuing capability
building, self-reliance, and empowerment”
 

Dela Costa-Ymson (1993) cites that community

organizing as a method is a tool for human
development. She defines human development
in the context of community organizing as:
“A process of unfolding the potentialities of
persons to the level where they can exercise the
faculties that will enable them to create, act and
manage resources to live a decent life”
 

Dacanay (1993), on the other hand, defines

community organization as:
“the process which builds/mobilizes people and
other community resources towards identifying
and solving their own problems, establishing
people’s self-awareness and capacities to stage
their own future...taking action collectively
considering the bureaucratic structure and
restrictive institutional arrangements”
 

These definitions highlight the nature of

community organizing. It is a process by which a
community identifies its problems and finds
solutions through collective mobilization of
community people and resources. The ultimate
goal/objective of community organizing is to effect
changes in social and environmental institutions
so that people can direct their own lives.
COMMUNITY ORGANIZING

It is a:
a. Social development approach
b. Continuous and sustained process
education
- as a process consists of steps or activities
that instill and reinforce the people’s self-
confidence/self-determination/self-reliance
on their own collective strengths and
capabilities.
➢It is a problem solving approach whereby
the community is empowered with
knowledge and skills to identify and prioritize
its needs and problems, harness its resources
to deal with the problems and take actions

➢ A process by which people living in

proximity to each other are brought together
in an organization to act in their common
self-interest.
Community Organizing also means:

GO IN SEARCH OF YOUR PEOPLE

LOVE THEM;
LEARN FROM THEM;
BEGIN WITH WHAT THEY KNOW
BUILD ON WHAT THEY HAVE.
BUT OF THE BEST LEADERS
WHEN THEIR TASK IS ACCOMPLISHED,
THEIR WORK IS DONE,
THE PEOPLE ALL REMARK,
“WE HAVE DONE IT OURSELVES”
By: LAO TSE
 Community organizers generally assume that
social change necessarily involves conflict and
social struggle in order to generate collective
power for the powerless.
People working together
around the world to generate
ideas and action for social change
The premises upon which community
organizing is based state that lack of
participation among the poor is due to
powerlessness, but this powerlessness
can be overcome if people band together
and are mobilized to take group actions,
and eventually develop a sense of power
among them.
Three Basic Values of Community Organizing
1. Human Rights- are based on the worth and
dignity inherent to all human beings: the
right to life, the right to development as
persons and as a community and the
freedom to make decisions for oneself.

2. Social Justice- entails fairness in the

distribution of resources to satisfy basic
needs and to maintain dignity as a human
beings.
3. Social Responsibility- is premised on the
belief that people as social beings must not
limit themselves to their own concerns but
should reach out to and move jointly with
others in meeting common needs and
problems.
CORE PRINCIPLES IN COMMUNITY
ORGANIZING

❖People- Centered
❖Participative
❖Democratic
❖Developmental
❖Process-oriented
Goals of Community Organizing
1. People empowerment- community organizing
aims to develop self-efficacy and self-
confidence so that people will be able to
overcome their powerlessness and develop
their capacity to maximize their control over
the situation and place their future in their
hands. Through awareness building,
organizing and mobilizing community
members, people’s organization can serve the
needs of the community
2. Social restructuring which means:
a. equitable distribution of wealth, power in
health and resources
b. organize the silent PDOES to speak up
c. decision making that is now coming from
the majority instead of the elite.
3. Alliance building
4. Genuine Democracy
5. Improved quality of life- community organizing
seeks to secure long and short- term
improvements in the quality of life through
sustainable community development
Basic Principles of Community Organizing
1. Work with and not for the people.
Empowers the people especially the DOPE
sectors who are open to change.
2. Based on the interest of the majority
3. Start where the people are
4. Trust in the people
5. Gender sensitive
6. Mobilize external and internal resources
7. Work from simple to complex, concrete to
abstract, micro to macro, short to long term
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
DEVELOPMENT
- A process of enabling a person or a group to
become self-reliant and self-fulfilled
- Transforming and empowering people in
addressing needs, rights and improve quality of life
through collective, participatory efforts for
sustainability
- A multi-dimensional process involving major
changes in social structures, population, attitudes
and national institutions as well as acceleration of
economic growth, reduction of inequity and
eradication of absolute poverty.
The goal of development is “Better Life”
-Desired changes in the attitudes,
institutions, conditions of production
and the level of living of the people.
- A quest for an improved quality of life
for all
- It is measured by the ability of people to
satisfy their basic needs
 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
• Organized effort of people to improve the
condition of the community life
• Capacity of the people for participation, self-
direction and integrated efforts in the community
affairs in which development is accomplished by
the people
• It seeks through self-help, voluntary
participation, and cooperation of the people of
the community but usually with technical
assistance from the government or voluntary
organization.
ASSUMPTIONS OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
1. Community development is rooted in human
development
- When a person nurtures aspiration and
preferences in life, one is bound to live a happy
and satisfying life
- The worth and dignity of the individual are the
basic values in democratic society
2.Everyone has something to contribute to the life
of the community
- Even the poorest member of the community can
share something maybe not in terms of money, but
in terms of talents and skills
3.People has ability to learn and to grow
- As long as a person is ready and willing to
learn, his potentials can be enhanced and
nurtured
4.Provides the opportunity and the means
by which the worth of an individual can be
revealed
- His contribution can be made
- Learning can take place
CHARACTERISTICS OF COMMUNITY
DEVELOPMENT
1.Concerned with all the people of the community,
rather than any particular group or segment of the
population
2.Concerned with the whole of community life
-The total needs of the community instead of any
one specialized aspect such as agriculture, business
or education
3.Concerned with bringing about the social change
in the community
4.Concerned with the problem solving of social
issues and conflicts
5.Based upon the philosophy of self-help and
participation by as many members of the
community as possible
6.Essentially interdisciplinary
- Implies integrated attempts to make available
professional skills and resources for the service of
the community’s various specialties
7.Involves technical assistance, personnel,
equipment, supplies, money or consultation from
the government or voluntary private organizations,
both domestic and foreign
8.Both concern with task goals and process
goals
- Concerned with achieving expressed
concrete objectives and with strengthening
the qualities of participation, self-direction
and cooperation
9.Involves Educational process
- Concerned with “teaching and learning”
from people
10. Continues over a substantial period of time
- Not a “crash” program but rather a “process”
11. Based on “felt” needs, desires and
aspirations of the people in the community
- Community action is based on the
consensus of the people

12. Direct participation is open to any

community resident who wishes to
participate
ENSURING HEALTH IN THE HANDS OF THE
PEOPLE
a. Little in the way of community health can
be achieved unless the community health
professional understands the dynamics of
organizing a community.

b. Among the most important skills is the

ability to plan a community health
promotion/disease prevention program.
Community Organizing and Community
Development
a. Community organizing and community
development are similar terms that have
different meanings.

b. Community organizing "means bringing

people together to combat shared problems
and increase their say about decisions that
affect their lives."
c. Community development "occurs when
people form their own organizations to
provide long-term capacity for problem
solving.“

d. In recent years, the need to organize

communities seems to have increased.
Technological advances have resulted in a
sense of community.
 

“We have a different way of serving the

community. With other organizations, they give
the people what they want to give them, not
necessarily what they need. If we weren’t here to
help organize the communities, they would not
have a voice, they would not be confident to speak
out. They will stay needy,”
Hazel Yu
Community Organizer
The Situation of Underdevelopment in
Health
A. HEALTH SITUATION
1. Leading causes of illness and deaths are all
preventable and curable.
2. Leading causes of illness are largely
communicable.
3. Health services are inadequate, unaffordable
and inaccessible to majority of the poor
Filipino people especially to those far-flung
areas.
4. Health resources are also very wanting.
B. Root causes: Social-related inequalities
1. Social Divisiveness of people
- Individualistic and voiceless poor
- Lack of participation of people in matters
affecting health
2. PoliticalGraft and corruption
3. Economic Poverty
4. CulturalColonial mentality
5. Ecological- Poor environmental
- Destruction and exploitation of life
support systems
C. Responses to health situation
1. Clinic- based or hospital-based
approach- largely curative in nature.
2. Primary health care approach –
expanded the focus on health to
promotion, prevention of disease,
addressing the inadequacy, unavailability,
inaccessibility and unaffordability of
health services and resources.
D. Effects of responses to health situation
1. Very minimal
2. Still under development in heath
 Lament of a Small Farmer
I was hungry and you informed a
committee to investigate my hunger,
I was homeless and you filed a report
on my plight,
I was sick and you held a seminar on
the situation of the underdeveloped,
You investigated all the aspects of my
plight and yet I am hungry
(Anonymous)
COPAR- COMMUNITY ORGANIZING and
PARTICIPATORY ACTION RESEARCH
➢an alternative approach to Community
Health Development.
➢ Using PHC as an approach to health, the
community health nurse or community
organizer conduct community
organization and participatory action
research not only for the purpose of
community health but also for the
community development
➢ COPAR approach to development does
not mean that it will eliminates all the
existing problems in a very short period
of time. It could be a slow, but
promising and a fulfilling way of
achieving health development.
➢COPAR is an important tool for community
development and people empowerment where
community organizing is not only utilize but
also participatory action research to intervene
change and development in the families,
population groups and the entire community.

➢ COPAR means a group of people who identify a

problem, do something to resolve it, see how
successful their effort were, and if not satisfied,
try again (O’Brien, 1998)
 REFERENCES:
Castro, C.E. (2012). Community health nursing
and community health development (1st ed.).
Manila : Educational Publishing House.

Schneider. Introduction to Public Health, 2011.

Kamalam. Essentials in Community Health

Nursing Practice, 2012

Castro. Health Education for Nursing and other

Allied Health Professions, 2011