Understanding ground-up community development from a practice perspective

Abstract

This article offers a practice perspective on Community Development from the ground up regarding health and well-being. It advocates for a departure from traditional Community Engagement approaches, arguing that they fall short of relocating authority to communities as influential health producers. The author affirms that Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) approaches are preferable Community Engagement practices, as they offer more authentic pathways toward community-centred population health and wellbeing. The article concludes that once effective ground-up community development has been initiated supplementary efforts at reform and relief are more likely to have desired and sustained impact.