TY  - JOUR
T1  - Cultural Contexts and Community Engagement in Public Health Palliative Care: Comparative Insights from Two Canadian Compassionate Communities
A1  - Yuki Sato
A1  - Hiroshi Tanaka
A1  - Kenji Mori
A1  - Rina Okabe
A1  - Takashi Ito
JF  - Journal of Integrative Nursing and Palliative Care
JO  - J Integr Nurs Palliat Care
SN  - 3006-5550
Y1  - 2024
VL  - 5
IS  - 2
DO  - 10.51847/ahtmcYZCig
SP  - 257
EP  - 271
N2  - Compassionate communities are part of a global public health initiative designed to tackle the social factors surrounding death and dying by building more supportive local environments. Nevertheless, solid empirical studies on how communities become involved in this area remain scarce, especially in understanding how specific local conditions shape participation patterns. The purpose of this study was to uncover successful strategies for community involvement and to examine the contextual elements that support or hinder the growth and long-term viability of compassionate communities. Researchers applied a comparative ethnographic design to explore the processes of community engagement in two culturally distinct compassionate communities in Montréal (Canada): Centre-Sud and West Island. Information was collected via participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and detailed logbooks. Drawing on developmental evaluation principles, the data were examined using a thematic lens combined with the Ecology of Engagement framework.

Two markedly different yet locally attuned routes to community engagement appeared, each strongly influenced by the unique sociocultural features of the setting. In Centre-Sud, a bottom-up, resident-driven model emphasizing shared leadership and gradual trust-building created a durable network that achieved lasting stability by establishing an independent non-profit organization. By comparison, the West Island initiative followed an institution-driven strategy, which proved a practical way to address existing challenges, such as widespread community skepticism; sustainability was secured by formally incorporating the project into the guiding organization through a dedicated, ongoing staff position. This side-by-side ethnographic analysis reveals that there is no universal blueprint for success. Instead, effective engagement depends on carefully adjusting strategies to match the particular patterns of trust and power present in each locality. The findings indicate that while grassroots, community-led models can generate deep levels of ownership, top-down, institution-led approaches may sometimes offer the most reliable path to sustainability when communities face deep-rooted systemic obstacles. Overall, the study provides a useful, practical framework for those working in the field and valuable insights for shaping evidence-based policies that can nurture compassionate communities across a wide range of environments.
UR  - https://journalinpc.com/article/cultural-contexts-and-community-engagement-in-public-health-palliative-care-comparative-insights-fr-qz8iikaqkrpt5co
ER  -