Participatory Community Health Enquiry and Planning in Selected Urban Slums of Indore, Madhya Pradesh

This 129-page publication seeks to offer methods that facilitate sustainable solutions for the improved health of children's health in slum communities located in Indore, India. The Activity Report is broken into two parts. The first section examines the ways that Participatory Community Health Enquiry and Planning (PCHEP) can assist Environmental Health Project (EHP) workers. One of the goals of the publication is to make the suggested methodologies adaptable to village settings elsewhere.

This publication is the result of a ten-day workshop held in Indore, India, in March 2003, which sought to enhance the skills

of EHP workers (and those implementing programmes) with a focus on these areas: participatory community enquiries, reporting

of findings, prioritising interventions based on community needs; reviewing the process through which a community takes

ownership of programme objectives; and exploring potential planning actions. The overall health project focused on identifying the key internal and external factors that predispose certain urban populations to health vulnerability.

Each of the five non-goverment organisations/community-based organisations involved focused on developing strategies and
activities that meet the following programme objectives: "(1) community mobilization and resource mapping in the target slums using participatory techniques and focus group discussion; (2) building the capacity of lead CBOs and slum-based CBOs; (3)

conducting a community enquiry; (4) undertaking BCC activities; (5) undertaking health coverage activities at each slum and

cluster level; (6) developing linkages with health, water and sanitation service providers; and (7) community-based

monitoring."

The Field Guide portion of the publication provides "lessons learned" that were the result of the experiences of participants

who partook in the ten-day workshop. The processes and principles that emerged from this exercise are intended to be replicated and adapted by programme planners, managers, and implementers working in similar situations.

The book focuses on a number of steps that include a section which seeks to answer this question: "Why do we need to use a participatory community enquiry approach?" One of the answers is that "community participation expands the impact of health programs by contributing resources, increasing service utilization and facilitating preventive activities, while at the same time enhancing the community’s self respect and ability to control its environment." Increasing self-reliance and working on sustainability are key components. Also important is engaging community participation that promotes attitudinal changes that improve health conditions.