Who Are the Leaders?

Every community has formal and informal leaders, and the leaders always have opinions. These "opinion leaders" are people who may possess knowledge, resources, or skills needed for your project. There are three reasons for involving opinion leaders in your project:

  1. They know many of the problems and needs of the community and can provide information not available from mortality or other types of data.
  2. Personal interviews will provide an opportunity to present your effort to these leaders and build community support for planning and carrying out health programs. Many of these people have the power to throw support to your effort or hinder your progress.
  3. You may be able to identify individuals who will be willing to take an active role in your organization, i.e., serve on a coalition or task force.

To find opinion leaders in your community, look around the community to identify people who:

  • Are in a position of power
  • Have the reputation of getting things done
  • Have made key decisions on previous issues
  • Actively work in a volunteer organization
  • May not hold a position but are clearly "neighbors in-the-know"

In addition to ranking of the health problems, the information gleaned from surveys provides much more!

  • It can provide you with important clues about how to get your program off the ground
  • It can give you an idea of the level of awareness people in the community have concerning major health problems
  • It can provide some indication of your allies as well as the likelihood of support for your efforts


WORKSHEETS:

Involving Community Leaders Main Page

Community Health Promotion Guide Main Page

 



See also > Center for Health Promotion > Health Promotion and Chronic Disease