Social and community program approaches to participants: Exploring best practices

This article presents the results of a deepened study of the best practices and outcomes of 15 programs (across 9 countries) that work with socioeconomically disadvantagedd communities. Using thematic analysis, we identified best practices that participants, community leaders, and professionals recognized as key. Data collection involved in loco observation and semistructured interviews with participants and professionals, and focus groups with professionals. Associated with best practices, programs adopted two central perspectives on approaching participants: approaching participants as users and approaching participants as contributors. Such approaches were crossed with best practices and outcomes identified througout the analysis. For programs that approached participants as users, the best practices were valuing, facilitating the access to resources, showing availability, and promoting competencies and openness, and the main outcome was participants' improved self-confidence. For programs that approached participants as contributors, the best practices were contributing, encouraging participation, valuing participants, becoming masters, and reciprocity, and the main outcome was participants having an impact.