Practicum and Community Initiatives

Practicum and Community Initiatives

To engage a community successfully, public health leaders must embrace inclusiveness—all stakeholders must be included throughout the process. The process must be comprehensive so every aspect of the issue, including root causes, can be addressed to produce systemic change. And most importantly, there must be local ownership over the process so community members feel a sense of empowerment and responsibility for gaining knowledge, sustaining policies, and creating public health change.

Imagine that you are in charge of a new community initiative at your practicum site that will require community engagement to ensure success. Historically, the community’s involvement with your agency and its programs has been low, attributable to lack of connection and communication.

Make a proposal to your practicum mentor in which you describe your leadership strategy for engaging community members in this initiative. You can add substance to the scenario by providing additional details about the initiative goals and how you plan to achieve them through community involvement. Support your plan with evidence from course materials or other professional sources.