Ethnographic approach to community organization and health empowerment

The purpose of this article is to address pertinent issues relative to the association between community organization and health empowerment methods in ethnic communities of colour. It seeks to address these issues by utilizing ethnographic procedures for documenting community health concerns and by advocating for empowerment for people of colour and their participation in coalition partnerships. Increasingly the importance of citizen participation in the planning, assessment, and implementation of community-based health initiatives has been identified as essential for effective health promotion and disease prevention programs. This article argues for the utility of a community organization approach for achieving health empowerment, and subsequently decreasing the excess deaths in communities of colour. The interface of ethnographic procedures, community organization, and development of community-owned action plans for programming health interventions is discussed.