Community Workshop, Rajarata University of Sri Lanka

A community led workshop on  “Community Based Health Promotion Process” were held on 07^th & 08^th February 2019, at Department of Health Promotions, Faculty of Allied Sciences, Rajarata University of Sri Lanka (RUSL), Mihintale.

This workshop was jointly organised by the Institute for Research & Development in Health & Social Care (IRD) & RUSL in collaboration with the Keele University, UK; under the South Asian Early Development and Research Capacity Building (SEARCH) Project funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC), UK.

The workshop on Community based Health Promotion Process was conducted by a team of ten lay community members who had been trained on health promotion process and implementing health promotion interventions in their communities to address community perceived health issues in the North Central Province of Sri Lanka.

A decade ago, Department of Health Promotions, RUSL introduced a novel approach to work with and by people to improve their own health, which is now known as ‘Community based Health Promotion Approach’.  In that, members of the general public are empowered to initiate and execute interventions in their own communities, allowing them to claim the ownership of the process.  Department of Health Promotions facilitates the process and helps to improve capacities and skills of the communities.

Community workshop
The community led workshop covered on how lay people in different villages in Anuradhapura used Health Promotion to address issues affecting the wellbeing of adults and children in the areas in which they lived. This was one of the first of its kind where lay community members acted as resource persons and the students and visitors were participants. The workshop provided an opportunity for everyone to learn how the community used simple techniques and methods to reduce non-communicable-diseases risk factors, reduce substance use among males in villages, and reducing malnutrition among children.