Capacity

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Community Capacity

Once you have a good idea of your resources within the partnership, then you are ready to identify the other resources in your community that the partnership should tap into in order to effectively accomplish its mission. This process entails:

assessing and mapping your community’s assets; and
building the capacity of the community to create interventions to improve health.

What is community capacity?
If you are not familiar with the term community capacity, you may be familiar with some of the other terms that have been used to describe this concept. For example, community competence, public capital, civic capital, collective efficacy, social capital, and community building have all been defined and described with similar characteristics.

Community capacity has been described as the resources, infrastructures, relationships and operations that enable a community to create change. Often, these community characteristics are referred to as assets of the community. Therefore, by assessing and building these assets or capacities, we create the road to developing interventions.

When do you assess and build community capacity?
There are many reasons to assess and build the capacity of your community, including:

to organize and mobilize resources for the accomplishment of agreed upon goals;
to strengthen the characteristics of your community that enable you to plan, develop, implement, and sustain effective community programs;
to achieve a more coordinated and effective health and social service delivery system;
to seek common ground in developing community solutions;
to rebuild hope for creating community change; and
to enhance health outcomes.

In working together to address health conditions and risk factors, one of the most important capacities is to develop a common understanding of how these conditions and factors influence the health of the community. It is only from this common understanding that community stakeholders can begin to work together to make decisions that influence the welfare of their community. The resulting social and health systems are more likely to meet the needs of the community.

How do you assess and build community capacity?
Assessing and building community capacity helps you to think about the strengths you already have in your community that can be mobilized in order to plan your intervention.

In general, you will want to look at the structures or social organization of the community (e.g., social and inter-organizational networks, norms, distribution of power and authority, places for congregation) as well as the individual belief systems and resources in the community (e.g., trust, identity, skills, sense of community, civic participation, values).

In order to map your community’s assets, consider the following:

inventory the gifts, skills and capacities of your community members (e.g., health-related experience, office skills, sales/marketing experience, access to data and information on social and health inequities);
inventory the citizen’s associations in your community (e.g., what groups do your partners belong to, what are other partnering associations); and
inventory the formal institutions in your community (e.g., private businesses; public institutions such as schools, libraries, parks, police and fire stations; and nonprofit institutions such as hospitals and social service agencies).

Much of the work to increase community capacity relies on the process that you develop. The following includes some recommendations for developing your processes.

Participation in planning, organizing and implementing interventions is critical to their success. It is often helpful to start with existing social groups to gain community involvement (e.g., churches, volunteer organizations). Individuals within these groups often experience a sense of belonging with others who take part in these groups and have some trust in the processes used – both of which are critical to creating and maintaining participation. Experiences with these groups can be stepping stones for future collaboration.
Social relationships rely on trust, reciprocity, conflict resolution and a sense of community. Through commitment to the intervention, these social ties can be used to solicit participation from other stakeholders, share information, build unity and solidarity, and open doors for individuals and groups.
Skills and resources of community stakeholders should be identified and shared in order to develop a sense of support and interdependence as well as to capitalize on existing strengths to increase effectiveness of the intervention. Skills and resources are often referred to as assets and may include experience with strategic planning, ability to facilitate meetings or mobilize efforts, funding, space, and other necessities for carrying out the project.
Community conversations to share information and make decisions ought to be dependent on the use of consensus-based, collaborative processes. Build on existing social networks (e.g., workplace, school, clubs) and keep all community voices at the table by including everyone’s interests, resources, and needs.
Leadership demands some very important qualities, including: communication, evaluation, coaching, visioning, collaboration, and an ability to inspire others. Leaders should be representative of the community stakeholders in order to increase understanding of the needs of the community and to engage the stakeholders in the identification community problems and corresponding solutions. It is also important to build mechanisms for sharing leadership roles and responsibilities. This may include providing mentoring for new leaders and creating by-laws that require changes in leadership periodically.
Values, history and culture are essential concepts to understanding the community context. Some of the core values inherent in doing this work are equity, collaboration and social responsibility. These values may be aligned with or in contrast to the community’s values and interests. Therefore, it is critical to recognize how community stakeholders’ beliefs and perspectives, as well as their history, influence their willingness to engage or act and to encourage community stakeholders to consider alternative ways of thinking and doing.

The following tips are provided to assist you in building the capacity of your community:

Ensure that the partnership vision and mission supports the interests and goals of the community.
Inventory skills, experiences and resources in the broader community.
Attempt to align your partnership with other initiatives for mutual gain.
Organize community-building activities and projects.
Encourage civic involvement.
Build or rebuild trust in the community through shared experiences and common links to resources.
Promote economic growth, local enterprises and job connections.
Celebrate local talents and resources.

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