Community–based Approaches
Partie 2 > Élément Essentiel 6 > Rechercher des canaux disponibles qui atteignent votre cible > Approches Communautaires
What is it?
Community-based approaches reach people within a certain geographic area or people with common interests or characteristics. This includes activities that gather a large number of people and mobilize the targeted community to participate. Examples of community-based activities include dramas/street theater, puppet shows, games, concerts, contests (e.g., music, art and dance) and mobile video units.
Pros and Cons
- Community-based approaches are less expensive than mass media, but reach a smaller number of people.
- Community-based activities can be entertaining and educational, but take a lot of time to plan and rehearse and require skilled facilitators.
Reminders for community-based approaches
- Make sure subject matter discussed or presented is appropriate for all ages or select venues that are more private to ensure that subjects can be discussed openly (e.g., condom demonstrations for older youth).
- Make sure to meet with community leaders, government officials and relevant religious leaders to gain their support for activities at the community level.
- When creating theater activities, make sure the language, names and scripts are appropriate for the specific community.
- Hold a discussion after any theater activities to ensure that the messages resonate with the audience and give the audience a chance to explore SRH topics together.
- For community-based activities, prepare two or three key messages and make sure that these are transmitted throughout the event.
Example
On The Good Life Game Show (Uganda), an educational and interactive game show on radio and TV, couples play against each other and test their knowledge about a weekly health topic. Through a telephone hotline, callers answered health questions and commented on the show. Community-based road shows and mobile screenings provided more opportunities for audiences to interact and learn in small groups.
Considerations for using community-based approaches in an urban environment
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There are a variety of places that young people gather to host community-based activities (e.g., near schools, sports and youth clubs, malls and bars).
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More access to youth who can produce and perform in community-based activities (e.g., acting schools, theater groups and musicians).
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In cities, community-based activities are often more complicated to organize and they tend to be more expensive.