USING EMPOWERMENT THEORY IN COLLABORATIVE PARTNERSHIPS FOR COMMUNITY-HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT

Models of community empowerment help us understand the process of gain ing influence over conditions that matter to people who share neighbor hoods workplaces, experiences, or concerns. Such frameworks can help i mprove collaborative partnerships for community health and development . First we outline an interactive model of community empowerment that describes reciprocal influences between personal or group factors and environmental factors in an empowerment process. Second, we describe a n iterative framework for the process of empowerment in community part nerships that includes collaborative planning community action, commun ity change, capacity building, and outcomes, and adaptation, renewal, and institutionalization. Third, we outline activities that are used b y community leadership and support organizations to facilitate the pro cess of community empowerment. Fourth, we present case stories of coll aborative partnerships for prevention of substance abuse among adolesc ents to illustrate selected enabling activities We conclude with a dis cussion of the challenges and opportunities of facilitating empowermen t with collaborative partnerships for community health and development .