Community Development Approach for International Health Activities in Developing Countries / 国際保健医療

ABSTRACT

In the 1990s, community development approach has been taken in implementing health promotion programs in many parts of the world. Many Japanese international health practitioners, however, are not familiar with this approach and not aware of the difference between the Community Development (CD) and the Community-Based (CB) approaches. To better leverage the power of these two approaches, Japanese agencies for international health should recognize the importance of current CD approach and the difference between CD and CB approaches. In the 1950s and 1960s, CD programs were implemented in a top-down method in many developing countries, in particular, in India. However, in the late 1980s and the 1990s, development practitioners began using it as a bottom-up approach. Today, CD programs require beneficiary community initiative, allowing these communities to independently sustain health programs launched by external agencies. On the other hand, CB programs are usually initiated and implemented by external agencies alone. Thus, when external agencies remove their supports, the health programs tend to phase out. When defining a health program implementation strategy, agencies must first identify the health problems with the beneficiary communities, and then determine whether a CD or a CB approach is appropriate. By recognizing the current CD approach and the differences between CD and CB approaches, Japanese international health agencies can use the two methods effectively and appropriately in their practice of health activities in developing countries.