Factors contributing to the failure of a community wellness center in rural Alberta included arbitrary choice of the community by regional health authorities, power issues, lack of leadership, and different interpretations of what a wellness center is. Solutions include having community members identify community needs and finding a project…

Community development practitioners (n=33) in Australia, Botswana, Canada, Malaysia, and the United States held strong beliefs about community involvement in change. They developed theories-in-action that guided practice and derived ideas and information form colleagues and the literature. A conceptual framework about reflective practice was…

Capacity, defined as knowledge, skills, commitment, and resources of individuals and organizations to plan, implement, and evaluate health promotion, was measured through surveys of 27 health-care practitioners and organizations in Saskatchewan. Results were used to develop checklists of organizational capacity for health promotion. (Contains 18…

Applies optimistic and pessimistic models of government/community partnerships to the situation of Muintir na Tire, the Irish community movement. Recommends an activist model that focuses on the ability of community interests to assert collective agency and negotiate more advantageous partnerships. (Contains 28 references.) (SK)

Presents results from a study of three community development models. The data are used to construct a model of the community development process as it is remembered and experienced by community workers and citizen participants involved. The model shows the change process in community development activities. (JOW)

The community practice model illustrates how goals of participation, empowerment, cooperation, and institutionalization are affected by inputs from human resources, program characteristics, finances, social costs, and policy requirements within the context of the social, economic, and political structure; population diversity; physical…

A top-down approach to British community development is rooted in Victorian paternalism, a bottom-up approach in radical action. The case of ACHIEVE (Academic Centre for Health Improvement and Evidence of Effectiveness) shows how the current government's top-down approach is inadequate and potentially exploitive. It emphasizes development and…

Assessments of learning needs of community development practitioners were conducted at a university, two government agencies, and two associations in Canada. Assessments were conducted from the top down, limiting practitioners' ability to define their needs. Recommendations were oriented toward institutions rather than staff members. (SK)

A theoretical model used in a 10-year study of 2 communities of Canada Natives affected by hydrocarbon development focused on responses ranging from social integration to social isolation. Privatized responses increased at one site and communitarian responses at the other. Avoidance responses decreased at both sites. (SK)