Community engagement is the inclusion of a community in decision-making and
practices in a particular sector. The health sectors, which include and implement various
effective community engagement practices, can significantly improve the health issues related to
the community by incorporating multiple stakeholders and bringing to attention some of their
views and problem. Health officers can introduce various levels of engagement in the health
sector, including community-oriented, community-based, community-managed, and community-
owned, as discussed below.
Starting with the first level community-owned level of engagement. At this level, the
members of the community are fully motivated. Communities are mobilized to identify, make up
their minds, develop their priorities, establish their interventions and bring about sustainable
procedures for health promotions and advancement (Bruton, 2017, pg. 94). In this type of
engagement, the community is viewed as one of the partners in the health sector. However, it
should include a laid-out protocol and framework with financial support to the community for
proper planning, commissioning, delivering, and managing their issues. Community-owned
engagement helps a lot in enhancing community ability in planning and addressing issues.
Secondly, the community-managed method is another level of engagement that the nurses
can use. According to Johnston and Lane (2018), a community-managed story involves the
collaboration of nurses and the health sector, and the community leaders to enable decision
making, addressing, analyzing the issues, and developing various alternatives and solutions for
the community with or without the presence of other members of the communities. In this level
of engagement, unlike the previous, the community provides resources and input in the planning
and evaluations. The collaboration between the communities, its leaders, and the nurses or the
health sector may be on a long-term or a short-term basis, whereby the reports should be
accompanied by proper monitoring of each party's contribution and the progress of the health
sector.
In conclusion, there are many levels of engagement that the nurses may incorporate in
discussing and Deeping dig into a community’s issues. The level of engagement depends entirely
on the type of community, audience involved, and the purpose of the meeting, whether it is
consultations, planning together, or sharing of information. Different engagements require
different methods of input and additional sources of resources, as discussed above.
EFFECTIVE LEVELS OF ENGAGEMENT THAT NURSES CAN PROVIDE COMMUNITIES. 3
References.
Bruton, G. (2017). Narratives of community engagement framework for public health. London.
Johnston, K A., & Lane, A B, (2018). The contribution of episodic and relational community
engagement. New York.