COAR

• COPAR


  Community Organizing Participatory Action Research
• COPAR


  • A social development approach that aims to transform the apathetic, individualistic and voiceless poor into dynamic, participatory and politically responsive community
  • A collective, participatory, transformative, liberative, sustained and systematic process of building people's organizations by mobilizing and enhancing the capabilities and resources of the people for the resolution of their issues and concerns towards effecting change in their existing oppressive and exploitative conditions
  • A process by which a community identifies its needs and objectives, develops confidence to take action in respect to them and in doing so, extends and develops cooperative and collaborative attitudes and practices in the community
• COPAR has been the strategy used by the Human Resource Development Program Ill (HRDP III) in implementing the Primary Health Care delivery in depressed and underserved communities to become self-reliant
• Community Organizing


  A continuous and sustained process of educating the people to let them understand and develop their critical awareness of the existing conditions; it is working with the people collectively and efficiently, discover their immediate and long-term problems and mobilizing the people to develop their capabilities and readiness to respond and take action on their immediate needs toward the solution of their long-term problems
• Objectives of Community Organizing

  • To make people aware of social realities toward the development of local initiative, optimal use of human, technical and material resources, and strengthening of people's capacities
  • To form structures that hold the people's basic interests as oppressed and deprived sectors of the community and as people bound by the interest to serve the people
  • To initiate the responsible actions intended to address holistically the various community health and social problems
• Community Organizing (in Primary Health Care)

  The process and structures through which members of the community are tapped to become organized for participation in health care and community development activities. They organized themselves to get better health care and improve their health as part of a larger effort, to increase their power and achieve greater social and economic equality within a larger social system
• Emphases of Community Organizing in Primary Health Care

  • The community works to solve their own problems
  • The direction is internal rather than external
  • The development of the capacity to establish a project is more important than the project
  • There is a consciousness-raising to perceive health and medical care within the total structure of society
• Principles of COPAR


  • People especially the most oppressed, exploited and deprived sectors are open to change, have the capacity to change and are able to bring about change
  • COPAR should be based on the interest of the poorest sector of the community
  • COPAR should lead to a self-reliant community and society
• Critical Steps of COPAR

  • Integration
  • Social Investigation
  • Tentative program planning
  • Groundwork
  • Meeting
  • Role Play
  • Mobilization or action
  • Evaluation
  • Reflection
  • Organization
• Participatory Action Research (PAR)

  An investigation on problems and issues concerning life and environment of the underprivileged by way of research collaboration with the underprivileged whose representatives participate in the actual research as researchers themselves, doing research of their own problem. The objective is to encourage consciousness of the suffering and develop competence for changing their own situation and helping in the organization building by harnessing both human and natural resources in responding to community needs
• Participatory Action Research (PAR)

  A community-directed process of gathering and analyzing information or an issue for the process of taking actions and making changes
• Participatory Action Research (PAR)

  • The essential element is participation. The beneficiaries of the research are the main actors in the research processes. It enables the community to experience a collective consciousness of their own situations. PAR involves research, education and actions to empower people to determine the cause of their problems, analyze these problems and act by themselves in responding to their own problems
• Characteristics of Traditional and Participatory Action Research

  • Traditional: Research for purpose of identifying and meeting individual needs within existing social system

  PAR: Research seek social transformation

  Traditional: Community problems or needs are defined by experts or the external researchers to community group and considered neutral or non-biased

  PAR: The research problems are defined by the community members themselves who are viewed as "experts of their own reality"

  Traditional: The research problem is studied by the researchers who control the research process

  PAR: The community group undertakes the investigation or research process from data collection to analysis. External researchers work alongside the community group

  Traditional: Recommendations for the community are based on the researcher's findings and analysis

  PAR: The community formulate recommendation and action plan based on research outcome
• In PAR, the methodology is determined by the local culture and innovativeness of the people. The method of data collection is through discussion among villagers, direct observations which are jointly made by the community members and the researchers
• In PAR, the results of the study are within the control of the people, they become aware of the issues and problems that affect them. They are more capable to change their situations
• PAR addresses itself to the marginalized communities and sectors. It aims to encourage consciousness of their suffering and develop competence for changing their situation. It is an attempt toward organization building, harnessing the human and material resources of the community in responding to the needs as discovered in the process
• Outside Researcher in PAR

  A professional researcher, who is committed and a learner; active learner rather than detached. He goes into an immersion and integration in the community. He shares his research knowledge to encourage genuine participation but would never assume a paternalistic authoritarian attitude but leaves the application of that knowledge to the people of the community
• Local Researchers in PAR

  Trained in the process of research and are made aware of the needs of their people and committed to do something about them. They elicit active participation from community members for collective data gathering, data analysis and action. They are the link between the community and the outside resources
• Phases of COPAR


  • Pre-Entry Phase
  • Entry Phase
  • Organization-building Phase
  • Sustenance and Strengthening Phase
• Pre-Entry Phase Activities


  • Preparation of the Institution

  Site Selection

  Identifying Potential Municipalities

  Identifying Potential Community

  Choosing Final Community

  Identifying Host Family
• Entry Phase Activities


  • Integration

  Core Group Formation
• Organization-building Phase Key Activities

  • Community Health Organization (CHO)

  Research Team Committee

  Planning Committee

  Health Committee Organization

  Formation of by-laws by the CHO
• Sustenance and Strengthening Phase Key Activities

  • Training of CHO for monitoring and implementing of community health program

  Identification of secondary leaders

  Linkaging and networking

  Conduct of mobilization on health and development concerns

  Implementation of livelihood projects