HOW TO UNDERSTAND A COMMUNITY - COMMUNITY ASSESSMENT FOR THE PROMOTION OF HEALTH-RELATED PHYSICAL-ACTIVITY

A definition of the concept of community is given and the principles a nd the major components of community assessment for health-related phy sical activity are presented. Definitions of community can include a f ocus on geographic, social or cultural elements. Basically community a ssessment deals with a process having two main aspects. The first, qua ntitative and descriptive aspect consists of a community profile, a we llness profile, a behaviour-al profile and a service profile. The seco nd, qualitative and analytical aspect deals with organizational capabi lities and the community's readiness for change. This information can be used for programme planning, implementation, and evaluation in the process of community development. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ireland Lt d.