ASSESSMENT ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ADOPT A CHILD PROGRAM IN COMMUNITY

DEVELOPMENT

BUKIDNON STATE UNIVERSITYExternal Studies Center

New Bataan, Compostela Valley Province

Master in Public Administration

JUVY F. SOBREVILLA

CHAPTER 1

The Problem

Introduction

Malnutrition spins off to a vicious cycle that has a long-term

consequences. Compostela Valley Province has a malnutrition rate

of 5.75%. The causes of child malnutrition were very complex and

interrelated, it has been identified that the main determinants can be

broken down into several levels. The immediate determinants of

child's nutritional status were the dietary intake and health.   These

immediate determinants were ultimately influenced by three other

underlying determinants: food security, adequate care of mothers and

children, and a proper health environment. Malnutrition in children

results to lower intelligence and reduced physical activity. If not

cut, this problem is passed on to the succeeding generations,

ultimately reducing a province’s overall productivity, economic

growth and exacerbating poverty.

In order to effectively deal with child malnutrition it is essential

that the causes of child malnutrition be understood, as well, it is

important to credit current progresses in child malnutrition and the

possible initiatives necessary to continue with reducing child

malnutrition in the Province. The Adopt a Child Program was

conducted to address the problem. In the pre implementation

stage, the Provinvial Nutrition Council spearheaded the validation

and profiling of underweight and severely malnourished children

in the different barangays. The focal coordinator of the program

will prepare the complete profile of the child. Part of the profiling

is acquiring data on the root causes of malnutrition. From this,

the office/individual who will adopt can choose to whatsoever

appropriate interventions necessary for the child. The program

will take to 120 days. Feeding and micronutrient supplementation

are the primary factors to be considered. Curtailing the root

causes and complete rehabilitation were the twin challenge of

the program.

The profile is readily available to all provincial/municipal

offices and individuals who signify to adopt and rehabilitate the

nutritional status of the child. The 120 days supplemental feeding

will be center or home based. Nutrition education classes were

also conducted in the different barangays to improve the self

seeking behavior of the parents. It is the utmost desire of the

program to achieve a healthy community.

Local Government Unit is a vital institution in

implementing reforms at the grassroots level. Community

Development (CD) is a broad term applied to the practices and

academic disciplines of civic leaders, activists, involved citizens and

professionals to improve various aspects of the community.

Community development seeks to empower individuals and groups of

people by providing them with the skills they need to effect change in

their own communities. These skills are often created through the

formation of large social groups working for a common agenda.

Community developers must understand both how to work with

individuals and how to affect communities' positions within the context

of larger social institutions.

It involves changing the relationships between ordinary people and

people in positions of power, so that everyone can take part in the

issues that affect their lives. It starts from the principle that within any

community there is a wealth of knowledge and experience which, if

used in creative ways, can be channeled into collective action to

achieve the communities' desired goals.

Community development practitioners work alongside people in

communities to help build relationships with key people and

organizations and to identify common concerns. They create

opportunities for the community to learn new skills and, by enabling

people to act together.

The program is a structured intervention that gives communities

greater control over the conditions that affect their lives.  This does not

solve all the problems faced by a local community, but it does build up

confidence to tackle such problems as effectively as any local action

can.  It is a skilled process and part of its approach is the belief that

communities cannot be helped unless they themselves agree to this

process.  Community development has to look both ways: not only at

how the community is working at the grass roots, but also at how

responsive key institutions are to the needs of local communities.

The study aims to assess the effectiveness of Adopt a Child

Program in Community Development.

Theoretical and Conceptual Framework

This study is anchored on Amy Kilbourne on the profiling,

understanding and reduction. The framework origins tackle on the

complete profiling of the client, and defined the selection process.

This entails the validation of the malnourished children in the

community. The second phase is the understanding the root

causes of the problem. Understanding the problem involves

indentifying the potential determinants of gaps on health and

health outcomes. It provide precise premise on whatever appropriate

intervention necessary in addressing the problem.

The third phase is reducing the prevalence rate. In this phase,

there is a necessity to develop appropriate interventions especially

for community –based settings that serve the vulnerable children.

Instituting appropriate evaluation techniques and determine an

effective strategy ready for implementation and translation

into care setting.

Malnourish children in the Adopt a Child Program are the

independent variables. Their existence will be used as the basis

of the effectivity of the program.

Community development is the dependent variable. Its realization

will depend on the nutritional status of the malnourish children in

the province.

Profiling Understanding Reducing

Figure 1. The Conceptual Model of the Study

*validation/weighing of malnourish children*consider selection-effects and confounding factors

*identifying the root causes

*intervene *evaluate

Statement of the Problem

The study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of Adopt a Child

Program in Community Development. Specifically, it sought answers

to the following questions:

1. What is the profile of the respondents?

2. Does the program creates a positive impact by reducing

the prevalence rate of malnutrition?

3. Does the program creates a positive impact and effect

change in the communities?

4. What intervention can be proposed?

Hypothesis

Significance of the Study

This study would determine the effectiveness of the Adopt a Child

Program in Community Development. The result of this study will

bring into light if the program has a significant role and

profound contribution to the lives of children in the community.

The data would be a guide to the Provincial Government on

whatever steps or interventions to be made to continue or

improve the program. Proving the effectiveness of the program

through the gathered data and results will support the

initiatives of the Province. This will also a step to further decide

if replication of the program to the different municipalities be

made possible.

For the communities, it will shed light if the structured

intervention was helpful to the families and community

members.

For the Municipal and Barangay Nutrition Council, this will

serve as a tool in handling and implementing nutrition programs.

Delimitation of the Study

The research is focused on the effectiveness of Adopt a

Child Program in Community Development. The schemes and

strategies used by the program will be measured by identifying

the prevalence rate of malnutrition in the Province.

The study is limited to the analysis of the results of the

prevalence rate. The cause and effect relationship will be tackled

and discussed. Using random sampling, the coverage was posed

down to five barangays.

Definition of Terms

The following terms are define operationally.

Nutrition. The process of absorbing nutrients from food and

processing them in the body in order to keep healthy or to grow.

Malnutrition. A lack of healthy foods in the diet, or an excessive

intake of unhealthy foods, leading to physical harm.

Adopt A Child. This pertains to the program of the province of

Compostela Valley to address the problem of child malnutrition.

Community Development. Is a process designed to create

conditions of economic and social progress for the whole community

with its active participation and fullest possible reliance upon the

community’s initiative.

Profiling. The analysis and classification of the child’s nutritional

status based on dietary intake and health.

CHAPTER 2

Review of Literature

This section contains readings related to the study which were

taken from books, journals, internet sources and studies on computer

assisted instructions.

Nutrition

Nourishment, or aliment, is the supply of materials-food-required

by organisms and cells to stay alive. In science and human medicine,

nutrition is the science or practice of consuming and utilizing foods.

Many common health problems can be prevented or alleviated with a

healthy diet.

The diet of an organism is what it eats, which is largely

determined by the perceived palatability of foods. Dietitians are health

professionals who specialize in human nutrition, meal planning,

economics, and preparation. A poor diet can have an injurious impact

on health (www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/160774.php).

Malnutrition

The common health problem, especially in developing countries.

It concerns not enough as well as too much food, the wrong types of

food, and the body’s response to a wide range of infections that result

in malabsorption of nutrients or the inability to use nutrients properly

to maintain health. People are malnourished if they are unable to

utilize fully the food they eat, for example due to diarrhoea or other

illnesses (secondary malnutrition), if they consume too many calories

(overnutrition), or if their diet does not provide adequate calories and

protein for growth and maintenance (undernutrition). Individual

nutritional status depends on the interaction between food that is

eaten, the overall state of health and the physical environment.

Malnutrition is both a medical and a social disorder, often rooted in

poverty (www. Medicalnewstoday.com/articles/160774.php).

In addition, the World Health Organization defines malnutrition

as “ the cellular imbalance between supply of nutrients and energy and

the body’s demand for them to ensure growth, maintenance, and

specifications.” Women and young children are the most adversely

affected groups; one quarter to one half of women of child-bearing age

in Africa and South Asia are underweight, which contributes to the

number of low birth weight infants born annually. Malnutrition is

globally the most important risk factor for illness and death,

contributing to more than half of deaths in children worldwide.

Overpopulation, more commonly seen in developing countries, can

reduce food production, leading to inadequate food intake or intake of

foods of poor nutritional quality. Conversely, the effects of malnutrition

on individuals can create and maintain poverty, which can further

hamper economic and social development (Harohalli R. Shashidhar)

Relative to the idea of Shashidhar, Gomez and Galvan added that

malnutrition has shown to be an important concern in women, children,

and the elderly. Because of pregnancies and breastfeeding, women

have additional nutrient requirements. Children can be at risk for

malnutrition even before birth, as their nutrition levels are directly tied

to the nutrition of their mothers. Breastfeeding can reduce rates of

malnutrition and mortality in children, and educational programs for

mothers could have a large impact on these rates. They studied factors

associated with death in a group of malnourished children in a hospital

in Mexico City, Mexico and defined categories of malnutrition: first,

second, and third degree. The degrees were based on weight below a

specified percentage of median weight for age. Major causes of

malnutrition include poverty and food prices, dietary practices and

agricultural productivity, with many individual cases being a mixture of

several factors. Various scales of analysis also have to be considered in

order to determine the socio-political causes of malnutrition. For

example, the population of a community may be at risk if the area

lacks health-related services, but on a smaller scale certain households

or individuals may be at even higher risk due to differences in income

levels, access to land, or levels of education.

Community Development

“Designed to create conditions of economic and social progress

for the whole community with its active participation and fullest

possible reliance upon the community's initiative." (quoted in Head,

1979:101)

Community development practice has arisen from a variety of

sources and settings. Its roots can be traced to the social reform

movement in Britain and North America in the latter half of the

18thcentury. Community development principles were formulated and

applied in third world development efforts following decolonization.

In the 50's and 60's CD or community organization, as it came to

be called, was used in deprived or underdeveloped urban and rural

settings in North America (Smith, 1979: 52). CD was a response to the

perceived disintegration of society due to rapid technological change,

economic dislocations, disruption in traditional family and community

structures and the extension of government and commercial services

into personal and family life, with negative impacts on personal

effectiveness and community ties (Carey, 1979:20).  CD is eclectic,

integrating specialized knowledge from education, public health,

economic development and politics. (Head, 1979:101) However, it is

also a discipline unto itself, with a body of theory, standards of practice

and professional associations. Masters and doctoral programs in

community development are usually associated with either a school of

social work or rural development.

Community development combines the idea of “community” with

“development”. We discussed earlier the concept of community – a

group of people with a shared identity. Hence, community

development relies on interaction between people and joint action,

rather than individual activity – what some sociologists call “collective

agency” (Flora and Flora, 1993).“Development” is a process that

increases choices. It means new options, diversification, thinking about

apparent issues differently and anticipating change (Christenson et.al.,

1989).

Development involves change, improvement and vitality –a

directed attempt to improve participation, flexibility, equity, attitudes,

the function of institutions and the quality of life. It is the creation of

wealth – wealth meaning the things people value, not just dollars

(Shaffer, 1989). It leads to a net addition to community assets,

avoiding the “zero sum” situation where a job created “here”, is a job

lost “there”. Putting the two terms together – community development

– means that a community itself engages in a process aimed at

improving the social, economic and environmental situation of the

community. The community is both the means and the end of

community development. The community itself takes action and

participates together. It is through this action that the community

becomes more vital, not just economically but as a strong functioning

community in itself.· Community development is a process where

people are united with those of governmental authorities to improve

the economic, social and cultural conditions of communities and

communities are integrated into the life of the nation enabling them to

contribute fully to national progress. – (United Nations, from

Biggs,1999)

A common definition of community development is not simple to

attain, nor is it universally agreed upon. Part of the confusion rests

with the fact that community development is both process and

product. The practice of community development is not focused solely

on material resource development, nor is it developed exclusively to

systems for addressing community needs. Jones and Silva (1991)

consider an integrated model of community development, that

includes problem solving, community building, and systems

interaction. Stated another way, they posit that a truly integrated

approach assesses the problem, goes on to build community capacity,

and importantly, addresses the problem.

Scholars identify the professional practice of community

development as a post world War II event ( Batten, 1957; Cary, 1970;

Cawley, 1989; Sanders, 1970). The earliest projects evolved from the

efforts of industrialized countries to assist emerging nations in their

development. While basic concepts and underlying principles were

already known, now in the second half of the 20th century was the

articulation of professional practice.

Cary (1979) traces the earliest foundation of community

development to a set of principles – felt need, extensive citizen

involvement, consensus, and local decision making. The wide appeal of

democratic principles and practical application has resulted, according

to Cary, in a community development practice in which these

principles are repeated over and over again with only modest

refinement. Cary suggests that the result is a lack of theoretical or

empirical underpinning for the profession. In detailing the history of

community development practice, Cary credits the outreach efforts of

land grant universities and programs of adult education and

community betterment for contributing to the evolution of today’s

community development practice.

Cawley (1989) also links the genesis of academic and

practitioner models of the community development and adult

education. He sees the common thread in the focus on community as

the arena for engaging persons, groups and organizations.

Sanders (1970) cites the ancestry of community development as

a union of community organization and economic development.

Community organization activities grow out of social responsibility

coupled with local action. Satisfying economic development needs

requires an application of a process – stages of change necessary in

order to reach desired goals. Sanders defines contemporary

community development as “the linkage of community organization,

which emphasizes national planning, careful allocation of resources,

and systematic movement toward well – defined goals.

Batten wrote in 1957 that what is [new] in community

development practice is the emphasis (rather than the principles) on

local needs and welfare of the people (as opposed to material resource

development). Batten emphasized the concept of community

empowerment as a means of identifying issues, managing change, and

facilitating community – based solutions.

The review of related literature cited provides the foundation of

information about the variables specifically the malnourish children for

their existence will be used as the basis of the effectivity of the

program for the development of the community.