Community Monitoring in Health Resources for the Practitioner |
Conducting Community Enquiry and Generating Evidence
The section describes in detail steps for conducting data generation at the community level, and promoting the community as an active agent in the process. The focus is on participatory principles that will provide general guidelines and directions for conducting community enquiry to generate evidence.
Preparing for Community Enquiry Community enquiry and sharing of the results through a report card is a crucial component of community monitoring. There are some desirable pre-requisites before one conducts community enquiry. To read more, click here The Principles of Community Enquiry Community enquiry involves the systematic application of methods deriving from both research and participatory appraisal. These methods are designed to allow local communities identify their priorities and make their own decisions. Some questions that could be raised during the design and conduct of the community enquiry process which would enable more effective community participation and ownership have been provided. To read more, click here Developing the Methods and Instruments A community ‘report card’ is often the key element of a community monitoring process. The ‘report card’ allows for the community experience of service delivery (or its absence) to be summarized and placed before a varied audience of stakeholders to decide on ways to address the shortcomings and gaps. It is key instrument which converts experience to evidence, and hence needs to be carefully thought of and prepared. To read more, click here Consolidating the Evidence into a Report This involves consolidation and validation of the findings generated from communities and interpretation of the data to identify issues and supporting evidence for carrying out advocacy for change. To read more, click here |