A new approach to community participation assessment

It is important to investigate the processes which influence participation in a community-wide intervenlion programme, to see if the programme actually evolved from an idea to reality. A method for assessing community participation in health programmes has been developed and so far niainly applied in developing countries. The method uses five indicators that strongly influence the community participation process. These are: needs assessment, leadership, organization, resource mobilization and management. This method was used to analyse the community development process in a community intervention programme aimed at preventing accidents, in Sollentuna municipality, Stockholm County. An asses.snrent of the participation process was made for years 2 and 4, indicating that participation had expanded. The method was of value for describing and understanding the participation process and was also found to be relevant in an accident prevention programme in an industrialized country. The method was also found robe a valuable educational tool when used as a process indicator for the programme, and important for understanding change.