Experiences from three community health promotion projects in Greenland

Three community health promotion projects have been implemented in Greenland in the municipalities of Upernavik, Ittoqqortoormiit and Qasigiannguit. Based on project reports and other written material, this paper describes experiences from the three projects and discusses the implications of the differences in project design and organization for potential outcomes.

None of the three projects were formally evaluated. They all experienced problems and have only been partially successful in reaching their goals. The Upernavik and the Ittoqqortoormiit projects were organised with strong leadership and a central organisation, whereas the Qasigiannguit project was designed as a community project with population participation in all phases of the project. The two former projects have probably had a greater direct change impact on the community, whereas the latter has strengthened aspects of community capacity building.

We need to learn more about how to employ the resources of communities, how to achieve better partnerships and how to support people in their efforts in order to secure population participation at all project stages. It is important to build coalitions with broad representation in the community and to secure population participation in order to disseminate the efforts and reach the needs of the whole community.