Community Mobilization around Postabortion Care: Methodology and Overview

This 25-page presentation describes community mobilisation around post-abortion care (PAC). It describes community mobilisation as a capacity-building process through which a community's individuals, groups, or organisations plan, carry out, and evaluate activities on a participatory and sustained basis to improve their health and other needs, either on their own initiative or stimulated by others. It then diagrams the community action cycle as a process of: exploring the issue, planning together, acting together, evaluating together, and organising the community for action.


The example used for illustration is the PAC Bolivia project and its process of organising for community mobilisation. Organisers began by identifying attitudinal, social, physical, and financial barriers to post-abortion health care and needs for strengthening local health care capacity to address health needs in the project communities. They then hired staff with reproductive health (RH)/family planning (FP) experience who were trained in community participation skills, data collection and reporting, and presentation skills. The first programmatic phase consisted of ensuring the availability of health facilities and services to support potential demand increases, garnering support from community authorities, organising community groups, and training core group members. Phase 2 included implementing a participatory assessment called an autodiagnostic, as well as a knowledge, attitudes, and practice (KAP) survey (pre and post). Assessment activities were organised around the theme of “delays in accessing health care”. Some activities included: life histories, a community mapping exercise, and a bridge of possibilities exercise. In phase 2, the data were compiled and analysed, and results were presented as community priority issues. In Phase 3, an action planning matrix was created by the community that carried consideration of the problem through to a suggested intervention, with people responsible for implementation identified, and dates set for the start and end of the project. Phase 4 was the implementation phase, and phase 5 was a participatory evaluation process begun during implementation and intensified after project completion.


The process was found to empower the community, bring out leadership, increase confidence, and create ownership. The Community PAC Program Facilitator's Manual outlines the process in session-by-session detail.