Abstract
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Background: Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are influenced not only by individual choices but also by social relationships, local environments, available services and community decision-making. Community-based health promotion can strengthen NCD-related health literacy by combining accessible information with practical skills, collective action and supportive conditions. In Rukmale urban area, Sri Lanka, Happy Village Plus used community participation and locally identified priorities, informed by health-promotion principles and the PRECEDE–PROCEED framework.
Objective: To describe community engagement, volunteer capacity-building, community and household-level NCD prevention activities, and baseline NCD-related risk priorities in Rukmale.
Methods: A descriptive analysis was conducted using baseline questionnaire data & programme-monitoring records from the Happy Village Plus initiative in Rukmale, Sri Lanka, to characteristics community engagement, volunteer capacity-building, community-based interventions, household outreach, and baseline NCD-related risk factors. Community volunteers received capacity-building & training support & helped mobilize residents through neighbourhood groups and local activities. Activities were delivered at community level through health promotion & education, practical skills development and community level interventions. Household visits provided opportunities to discuss risk determinants with residents in their own settings. The programme approach also included enabling and mediating actions, stakeholder engagement, advocacy and support for community-level implementation of health-promoting priorities. Descriptive statistical analysis was conducted using frequencies and percentages to summarize engagement, interventions, household outreach and baseline risk factors. Baseline data were available for 293 participants & the analysis focused on programme implementation and descriptive findings rather than evaluating causal effects or intervention effectiveness.
Results: The baseline situation analysis in Rukmale included 293 participants and identified insufficient fruit and vegetable consumption (20.8%), excessive salt (80.2%) and sugar (71.5%) consumption and insufficient physical activity (22.2%) as key behavioural risk factors; Current smoking and alcohol use were reported by 3.2% and 9.6%, respectively. Programme records documented 160 capacity-building and engagement activities, including 90 volunteer training/review activities and 114 activities involving community stakeholders. A total of 225 community interventions generated 3,434 participant-intervention units (mean 15.3 per intervention). Health education was the most common approach (56.9%), followed by skills development (40.0%) and behaviourally informed interventions (3.1%). Post-intervention household card-book data indicated that 90% reported enhanced their health literacy-related outcomes significantly, 73% reported following the physical activity, and 40.33% were within a healthy BMI range while 35.33% reduce their BMI. Furthermore, 70% reported fruit and vegetable intake, while 65% and 60% reported lower salt and sugar consumption, respectively.
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