Response posts: What challenges do you think my classmate will face in increasing community engagement in the context of his/her intervention (see below)? Explain your reasoning and offer any suggestions.

Diabetes Intervention

The intervention I proposed focused on a community fitness program. Under my intervention members of a community would come together and become active while having the support of others. Initially the program would start by just walking around the neighborhood, and then advance to more strenuous activities as the individuals become acclimated to being active. A part of this intervention would incorporate empowerment.

Empowerment is a "social action by which individuals, communities, and organizations gain mastery over their lives in the context of changing their social and political environment to improve equity and quality of life". [1] Empowerment is critical when it comes to providing an intervention that affects an entire community. In order for the members of the community to fully engage in the intervention, that have to feel like it belongs to them. I would allow the members of the community to design workout programs, and develop goals in order to make the program a success.

The organizational factors that would play a role in my intervention would be lack of funding. My intervention would focus on low income communities where economical resources are limited. This would mean creative techniques would have to be used to not only market the intervention but also to find different places to workout. Most gyms require a paid membership that community members may not be able to afford. So it would be challenging trying to find different places to work out for free especially during the winter months.

References:

[1] GPH-726: Week Six Lecture. Retrieved from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDOX1oIQmYQ.

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