Sherianne Kramer

Community, intervention and provider support influences on implementation: reflections from a South African illustration of safety, peace and health promotion

BackgroundThe development, implementation and evaluation of community interventions are important for reducing child violence and injuries in low- to middle-income contexts, with successful implementation critical to effective intervention outcomes. The assessment of implementation processes is required to identify the factors that influence effective implementation. This article draws on a child safety, peace and health initiative to examine key factors that enabled or hindered its implementation, in a context characterised by limited resources.MethodsA case study approach was employed. The research team was made up of six researchers and intervention coordinators, who led the development and implementation of the Ukuphepha Child Study in South Africa, and who are also the authors of this article. The study used author observations, reflections and discussions of the factors perceived to influence the implementation of the intervention. The authors engaged in an in-depth and iterative dialogic process aimed at abstracting the experiences of the intervention, with a recursive cycle of reflection and dialogue. Data were analysed utilising inductive content analysis, and categorised using classification frameworks for understanding implementation.ResultsThe study highlights key factors that enabled or hindered implementation. These included the community context and concomitant community engagement processes; intervention compatibility and adaptability issues; community service provider perceptions of intervention relevance and expectations; and the intervention support system, characterised by training and mentorship support.ConclusionsThis evaluation illustrated the complexity of intervention implementation. The study approach sought to support intervention fidelity by fostering and maintaining community endorsement and support, a prerequisite for the unfolding implementation of the intervention.

A critical review of instruments assessing characteristics of community

Community development is critical in South African and other low- to middle-income contexts characterised by unemployment, violence, poverty and poor infrastructure. The current asset-based trend in community research emphasises constructive community development and change through the mobilisation of existing and unrecognised community resources and skills. Following this trend we critically examine the conceptual soundness and logic of asset-based community assessment instruments. We give particular attention to measures of social capital, social cohesion, community resilience, and sense of community. Our review reveals that while the asset-based approaches embody an important shift away from the deficits orientation, their associated instruments, which bring discursive impositions, are marked by conceptual and operational ambiguities, troubling assumptions about community and uneasy power dynamics in their implementation. We suggest that such challenges may be addressed through the employment of measures that draw on both quantitative and qualitative paradigms, and that assume participatory strategies to implementation.

The Philosophical Assumptions, Utility and Challenges of Asset Mapping Approaches to Community Engagement

This literature review is a discussion of asset-based approaches to community engagement. Following a literature search, we identified several asset mapping approaches: Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD); Participatory Inquiry into Religious Health Assets, Networks and Agency (PIRHANA); Community Health Assets Mapping for Partnerships (CHAMP); the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach (SLA); Planning for Real® and approaches using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). These approaches are framed by assumptions about ‘assets’, ‘needs’, and ‘community’ and their associated community engagement methods that may be influenced by dynamics related to conflict, competition and language. We conclude that asset mapping approaches derive their value from their capacities to support partnership building, consensus creation, and community agency and control.

Community conversations as community engagement: hosts’ reflections

This article reviews community conversations as a community engagement tool within the South African context by exploring the perceptions of the conversation hosts. A focus group discussion was held with community conversation hosts to better understand the community conversation process and its community engagement value. Their reflections are reviewed against four principles of community engagement, namely, appreciation, applicability, provocation, and collaboration. According to the hosts, the community conversations seemingly increased community members’ awareness of community resources and allowed for community members to voice their shared concerns and discuss matters that they deem to be most relevant in their community. The conversations were considered to have created a participative environment in which community members and external stakeholders could discuss potential solutions to identified problems, thereby laying a foundation for future action. Additionally, the conversations were interpreted as promotive of relationship-building and collaboration opportunities among community members and between community members and external stakeholders. The article reflects on limitations of the method and recommendations for its future application.