Community Capacity Building

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Section 2

Step 1 – Identify and Define the Issue of Focus

The first step of community capacity building is to identify, define, and narrow down your issue of focus. Start by exploring potential topics to help you identify an area you would like to focus on. Once you have identified your issue of focus, it is important to do more in-depth research to help you learn more and define the issue as it relates to your community [2]. You can clarify an issue of focus by using any of, or a combination of, the following strategies.

  • Look up incident rates and trends.
  • Consult with community members, service providers, and professionals.
  • Look at what is being done by others (e.g., calls to action, campaigns).
  • Listen to what people are saying in the community.
  • Seek more information about the issue.
    • Search for organizations that address the issue, e.g., Saskatchewan Prevention Institute.
    • Reach out to service providers who work in this area.
    • Connect with local professionals, organizations, services, and community members.
  • Define the issue as it relates to your community.

Step 1: Identify and Define the Issue of Focus

Members of Community A attended a public event to learn about FASD. From the presenter, they learn that FASD is a lifelong disability caused by prenatal alcohol exposure and that it is one of the leading causes of developmental disabilities in Canada [6]. Upon further discussion, a group from the community decide that they would like to investigate further how FASD is impacting their community. After learning that there are high rates of FASD in their community, they decide that they are interested in looking into developing capacity in their community to address the prevention of FASD. They use the following strategies to identify and define their focus.

  1. Look up incident rates and trends.
    • During the presentation, it is mentioned that 4% of people in Canada have FASD [6]. In speaking with community health nurses, they share that this number seemed to match what they were seeing in the community, even though they do not have hard evidence to back this up.
  2. Consult with community members, service providers, and professionals.
    • The local early childhood intervention program thinks that the number of children with FASD may be higher in the community than is known. They are seeing a lot of children that are not diagnosed yet but have some of the challenges that children with FASD have. Getting a diagnosis can be challenging and take a long time [7][8].
    • Early Learning Educators have been seeing children experiencing issues with motor skills, language, memory, attention, ability to manage thoughts, emotions, behaviour, social skills, and social communication. From attending the presentation and doing further research, they were aware that these concerns can be linked to prenatal alcohol exposure [7][8].
  3. Look at what other people are doing.
    • They learn that there are groups, like the Saskatchewan Prevention Institute and the Northern Alcohol Strategy, who are raising awareness on FASD and its prevention. The Prevention Institute provides evidence-based resources and education on the prevention of FASD, and the Northern Alcohol Strategy (NAS) empowers and inspires communities to have important conversations about the unhealthy uses of alcohol.
  4. Listen to what people are saying in the community.
    • An anonymous survey is done with community members, and the group finds that many of the respondents know someone who struggles due to issues related to FASD.
    • People who are pregnant talk about feeling excluded from community events and other social occasions.
    • Alcohol is used in the community socially, both in individual homes and during community events. It is a social assumption that people will drink at functions.
  5. Seek more information about the issue.
    • The group reaches out to the Government of Saskatchewan, the Prevention Institute, the FASD Support Network of Saskatchewan, and the Public Health Agency of Canada to see what is being done in their area of interest.
    • The group reaches out to service providers who work with people who are pregnant and/or may become pregnant, including:
      • Addiction services
      • Social Services
      • Prenatal care providers
      • Recreation and library staff
      • Community leaders and elders
      • Doulas
      • Practical Nurses
      • Pregnant women
  6. Define the issue as it relates to your community.
    • The interested community members agree on the following definition of the issue and how it relates to their community.
      • FASD is an important health issue that is impacting the community. The prevention of FASD includes providing community support for healthy pregnancies. Although there are a lot of ways to support healthy pregnancies, the community decides to 1) address the prevalent “culture of alcohol” in the community and 2) provide more information about opportunities that can support and engage pregnant people within the community.