What to know
A community must be approached as an organizational function with structure that needs to be supported to strengthen its capacity to collectively undertake the work.
Section Overview
Synthesizing the frameworks allows us to identify the structural capacity needs of organizations or other collaborative entities practicing community engagement. Synthesis starts with the four practice elements of constituency development developed by Hatcher et al. (2008). Appendix 4.1 contains a table for each of the four practice elements. The text here touches only on their major points.
The first practice element is focused on knowing the community's history and experience, its constituents, and their capabilities. This practice element addresses the intelligence-gathering function to collaboratively achieve anticipated or agreed-upon outcomes with community partners.
This element speaks to the need for a wide range of data types, secure reporting and collection systems. This may foster it's use in decision making, and a culture that values community-engaged information gathering and use. The goal is to enable all partners to understand diverse viewpoints on community issues. As well as to appreciate the range of solutions that may address those issues.
The individuals and groups from communities or organizations undertaking engagement activities have differing abilities to assimilate data through their respective filters. If understanding is not developed collectively, it is often difficult to move to a collective decision or action. Communities have multiple layers of complexity that require organized, collective ways to obtain and understand community information. Understanding is rooted in experience, social and cultural perspectives, perceptions of influence, and the ability to act collaboratively among all involved. The task of knowing a community must be approached as an organizational function and supported with sufficient capacity.
Structural capacity must be in place to identify the engaging organization's priorities as well as any limitations. The development of positions and strategies allows an organization to effectively plan its role in the community engagement process.
The organization should be clear about its intentions and ability to adapt its position to differing viewpoints/priorities in a community. An introspective review will examine whether the organization takes an open or closed position to adjusting properties based on community concerns. The organization must clearly communicate the degree to which it is open to change so the community has clear expectations.
Structural capacity is also needed to support the examination of external forces. The understanding of these forces is critical for establishing positions and strategies that facilitate social mobilization and participatory decision making. Another term for the examination of external forces would be "external planning." It is necessary to determine whether the community is capable of participating and whether it is ready to take action. If the community lacks capacity, it will be necessary to facilitate the development of its capacity. If the community has capacity but is not ready to act, strategies will need to be developed to help the community.
When establishing positions through internal and external planning, engagement leaders must consider multiple variables that influence health. This may include social, cultural, epidemiologic, behavioral, environmental, political, and other factors. An assessment of these factors will provide insight into possible targets for health actions. As well as competing interests of the community and its potential responses to the organization's positions and strategies.
The organization's strategy for gaining community support should underlie the method of presenting its position. It is important to engage the community in this process as early as possible, although timing depends on the community's readiness. The organization's capacity to analyze, establish, present, and manage positions and strategies will either facilitate or hinder the engagement process.
Building and maintaining the structural capacity to perform this work requires rigorous attention from engagement leaders. Specific insights into each capacity component for this practice element are presented in Table 4.2. It demonstrates that the structural capacity needs for this practice element are closely aligned with those of Practice Element 1.
Developing networks of collaborators is the third element in the organizational practice of community engagement. As described by Nicola and Hatcher:
Networks
In organizational practice, the development and maintenance of networks is a critical function and contributes to many organizational practice areas. Effective networks should have active communication channels, fluid exchange of resources, and energetic coordination of collaborative activities among network partners. These targets can be achieved when organizations understand, support, and use available network structures. Keys to success include having the structural capacity to:
- Identify and analyze network structures (communication, power, and resource flow);
- Affiliate with those in existing networks;
- Develop and deliver ongoing messages across formal and informal communication channels to maintain information flow and coordinated activity;
- Target communications and resources to leverage agenda-setting processes within a community (Kozel et al., 2003; Kozel et al., 2006a, 2006b); and
- Establish, use, and monitor resource exchange systems that support network interactions and coordinated, collaborative community work.
Organizational leaders and managers must provide ongoing attention to building and maintaining the structural capacity to perform this work. The key task areas just described are dealt with more specifically in Table 4.3. The essential structural capacity needed for this practice element includes
- the skills and systems to communicate and relate to people on a personal basis,
- knowledge and understanding of community power structures, and
- access to communication and resource exchange networks.
The fourth and final practice element in community engagement is mobilizing constituencies, other organizations, or community members. Mobilization includes
- moving communities through the process of dialogue, debate, and decision making to obtain their commitment to a collaborative goal;
- determining who will do what and how it will be done;
- implementing activities; and
- monitoring, evaluating, adjusting, and reevaluating these activities in a cyclical fashion.
Engagement leaders must be fully immersed in the building and maintaining of the structural capacity to perform this work. A key to this practice element is earning the trust required for obtaining community commitment. To this end, the engagement process must be honest, and expectations must be clear. Leaders in both the community and the engaging organization must be committed to meaningful negotiations to resolve any salient issues. Engagement efforts will flounder in the absence of transparency and reciprocity in the engagement process. Insights on the range of human skills, data, and material resources needed to support this element are found in Table 4.4.