Community Participation and Empowerment in Promoting Healthy Communities

Abstract

Community participation and empowerment could be imperative in achieving healthy communities if properly utilized and implemented. A community is a configuration of individuals, families, and groups whose values, characteristics, interests, geography, or social relations unite them in some way and the word is used to denote both the people living in a place, and the place itself. Community participation and empowerment are community-based actions, policies or programs that are driven by community members which can affect local factors that can influence health, and has the potential to promote healthy communities. This paper on community participation and empowerment in promoting healthy communities discussed concepts such as community participation and empowerment, healthy community, importance of community participation and empowerment, the need for community participation and empowerment, roles of community participation and empowerment on healthy communities, partnerships for healthy communities, components of a healthy community and benefits of healthy communities.