title: The importance of community mobilization in interventions to improve sexual, reproductive, and maternal health outcomes: A review of the evidence.
abstract: Community participation, engagement, and mobilization are common components of many sexual, reproductive, and maternal health (SRMH) programs, but little consensus exists among researchers on how critical these program components are. Using principles of realist review, we reviewed a spectrum of community mobilization interventions to evaluate their use in improving five SRMH areas. Consistent with theoretical assumptions, we found that actively involving community members in leading intervention activities and/or taking ownership tends to produce better SRMH outcomes than simply relying on community members as implementers. Despite this, many fewer programs exist with this meaningful level of engagement than with more cursory engagement.
authors.affiliation: a MANILA Consulting Group, Inc. , McLean , Virginia , USA.|b College for Public Health & Social Justice, Saint Louis University , St. Louis , Missouri , USA.
authors.forename: Anne K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Sebert Kuhlmann
authors.affiliation: a MANILA Consulting Group, Inc. , McLean , Virginia , USA.|c CARE USA , Atlanta , Georgia , USA.
authors.forename: Lara
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Altman
authors.affiliation: c CARE USA , Atlanta , Georgia , USA.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Galavotti
mesh_terms: D003153:Community Health Services; D003256:Community Participation; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D000068097:Maternal Health; D008429:Maternal Welfare; D060728:Reproductive Health