Health promotion is an important aspect, which purpose might be seen in increasing control and health improvement. In that regard, planning community organizing in the name of the town/city, state, began with recognizing an existing problem, which was a high number of reported health problems. The present paper provides a protocol for mobilization of the aforementioned community, audience segmentation, and needs assessment.
The first step is to conduct a needs assessment. With the issue being recognized being sufficient to bring attention to the problem, it can be seen as too general to create efficient strategies to target the problems. Thus, needs assessment, i.e. “a process by which data about the issue of concern are collected and analyzed” (McKenzie, Pinger, & Kotecki, 2008, p. 127), should help identify the problems to be addressed more specifically. The determination of the process for data collection for needs assessment is largely defined by the type of information needed and the sources of such information.
With the purpose of community mobilization being health promotion, the limits of the data set for collection would be health problems related to lack of health behavior and life styles. In that regard, as the problems are health problems related to registered problems by the community members as well as life style issues, it can be stated that the health department and the human service department would be the sources for data collection, which will be expanded through conducting a survey in the community. The reason for conducting the survey will be filling the gap on health problems related to lifestyle.
Another purpose of conducting a survey can be seen in segmenting the audience, in order to define sub-groups and priority audiences. The choice of segmenting on a variety of dimensions, other than demographic and geographic characteristics, is rationalized by the intention of identifying “attitudinal beliefs and perceptions of relevant social norms… [and] salience of, and involvement with, the health behavior and presence of relevant social norms” (Siegel & Doner, 2007, p. 304).
After the needs are identified and the audience is segmented, a public forum will be conducted to determine the capacities of the available human and financial resources. Based on such determination, the issues will be prioritized (McKenzie, et al., 2008, p. 128), reaching a consensus on the issue that will be addressed first. The VMOSA (Vision, Mission, Objectives, Strategies, and Action Plans) model will be chosen as the framework for strategic planning, in which the objects are community-oriented, with the mission and the vision being identified through the course of the assessment (CTB, 2010).
The intervention strategy will be based on communication and education. In the first case, appropriate communication vehicles will be selected for such purposes, which are pamphlets and booklets. In terms of education, lectures and group work will be chosen as activities. The rationale for such selection can be explained through community involvement through attendance of lectures and group work as well as the ability to distribute communication materials, i.e. the pamphlets and the booklets.
It can be concluded that health promotion through community mobilization is an important aspect of community development. The aforementioned protocol indicates the framework for community mobilization, audience segmentation and needs assessment. The implementation of the protocol might include other steps during the process.
References
CTB. (2010). The Community Tool Box. Work Group for Community Health and Development. Web.
McKenzie, J. F., Pinger, R. R., & Kotecki, J. E. (2008). An introduction to community health (6th ed.). Sudbury, Mass.: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
Siegel, M., & Doner, L. (2007). Marketing public health : strategies to promote social change (2nd ed.). Sudbury, Mass.: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.