A PILOT TRIAL FOR COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT THROUGH NURSE-LED COUNSELING CENTERS

Open Access

Abstract

Nurse-led counseling centers (NLCCs) have been established in 'Gu', a town-sized urban district in South Korea. The purpose of the NLCCs was empowering residents, cultivating their leadership and mobilizing community resources to prevent chronic dieases and manage their health. Clubs and health-committees were organized to fulfill the purpose. We examined its feasibility guided by the ADEPT model's four determinants such as goals, obligations, resources and opportunities. Four focus-group interviews have been conducted in October to November 2013. Participants were sixteen nurses, eight club leaders who were senior residents (private sector), and fifteen health-committee members of Gu (public sector). Nurses, club leaders and health committee members represented different perspectives toward goals of the NLCCs. Further, participants defined their roles based on their goal perceptions. Due to lack of agreements on goals and obligations, nurses felt overwhelmed and exhausted with unespected roles, while other two groups felt that they have been asked to do tasks that they were not responsible for. For the resources, participants reported that the Gu had enough to empower residents, but they felt that the resources needed to be distributed more efficiently. Among three opportunities, organizational and public opportunities increased while political one did not. The NLCCs posed potentials for empowering senior residents and communities. Establishing channels among nurses, private and public sectors was essential to increase sustainability of the NLCC.