Table 1.

Sample characteristics, methods and outcomes of the reviewed studies on community organizing and health (n = 38).

Study No.	First Authors Years	Country	Study Design	Target Population	General Focus/Foci of the Community Organising	Community Organising Model/Framework	Stated Aim(s)/Objective(s)	Outcomes/Impacts	Intervention Success *
(1)	Agrusti 2020 [2]	United States	Survey and community listening sessions	Marginalised neighbourhoods/communities/groups	Health promotion (non-specific)	Community needs assessment methodology model	To explore the social determinants and community needs for behavioural health services in socio-economically disadvantaged neighbourhoods	Community needs assessment showed residents’ inability to access essential mental health services. Community listening sessions revealed how behavioural death disorders had made life difficult for lower-income residents.	Yes
(2)	Bauermeister 2017 [3]	United States	Case report	Young adults	Sexual/reproductive health and prevention	Community-based participatory research	To develop a structural initiative for reducing HIV/STIs among YGBMTW in Southeast Michigan; and to identify and implement innovative community strategies to reduce STIs experienced by young men who have sex with men in the region.	The Health Access Initiative (HAI) and the Advocacy Collective (AC) were implemented after community listening. The initiatives developed multi-media resources and workshops for medical and social service providers, health educators, and policy-makers interested in providing youth-friendly services to sexual and gender minorities.	Yes
(3)	Berman 2018 [4]	United States	Project evaluation	Families	Obesity; Healthy lifestyles (non-specific lifestyle prevention/modification)	Implementation Science Framework (Proctor and colleagues)	To evaluate the Healthy Lifestyles Initiative, which aimed to strengthen community capacity for policy, systems, and environmental approaches to healthy eating and active living among children and families	Eighty initiative partners completed a brief online survey on implementation strategies engaged in, materials used, and policy, systems, and environmental activities implemented. The use of materials was positively associated with the implementation of targeted activities.	Yes
(4)	Bezboruah 2013 [5]	United States	Qualitative research	Marginalised neighbourhoods/communities/groups	Healthcare access and equity	Community organising conceptual framework	To highlight the lessons on community organising for health care in a diverse county	A lack of equal participation and consensus was faced during intervention implementation. A lack of statutory pressure with adequate funding to implement programs was also felt. Despite challenges, the goals of building trust and generating commitment from community members was achieved through formal and informal mechanisms.	NA +
(5)	Black 2020 [36]	UK	Qualitative research	Volunteers and staff at the garden	Healthy lifestyles, wellbeing, and local environment factors	Green care theory by Cutcliffe and Travale (2016)	To stimulate discourse around the role of community gardens in promoting social and environmental change for well-being	The community participants contributed to the project after knowing it was a part of the development of a play. The study also found that connectedness with the non-human elements of the environment contributed positively to wellbeing of the participants.	Yes
(6)	Bosma 2005 [6]	United States	Cohort study	Young adults	Substance use	Community organising model	To describe the community organising methods and process results of intervention to prevent substance use and violence among the youth	The organising component of the project was successful in engaging adults and youth in prevention activities in schools and communities. Positive behavioural results were achieved for boys who had lower rates of increase in cigarette and alcohol use and violent behaviours.	Yes
(7)	Brookes 2010 [7]	United States	Quasi-experimental	Parents	Sexual/reproductive health and prevention	Community organisation and community partnerships	To increase openness, acceptance, and engagement on issues of sexual health with parents of children ages 8–18 years	“Sex ed for parents” program was found to be useful to parents as they felt more comfortable talking about sexual health in their community. Parents found new ways to help their child with issues of intimacy, relationships and sex and provided them with information they wanted to share with other parents in their community. Overall, the Real Life. Real Talk. initiative managed to build grassroots partnerships; to reduce stigma and shame associated with talking about healthy sexuality; and to increase openness, acceptance, and engagement on issues of sexual health.	Yes
(8)	Bryant 2010 [8]	United States	Quasi-experimental	Children and adolescents	Obesity; Physical activity; Other: Obesity prevention	Innovative program planning framework, community-based prevention marketing	To show how an innovative program planning framework, community-based prevention marketing (CBPM), was used to design a physical activity promotion intervention, VERBTM Summer Score-card to improve physical activity opportunities for tweens (9–13 years old).	The VERB TM Summer Scorecard program was developed and adopted in or tailored for at least 15 additional communities. Female participants were found more likely to be physically active 4 or more days per week (29% ((OR = 1.29, p = 0.040)} than non-exposed and non-participating girls and 42% (OR = 1.42, p = 0.0041) more likely to be physically active 6 to 7 days per week in 2004. Three years later it increased to 80% (OR = 1.80, p < 0.0001), 53% (OR = 1.53, p < 0.0001), and 46% (OR = 1.46, p < 0.0001) more likely to be physically active 2 days or more, 4 days or more, and 6 to 7 days, respectively compared to non-participatory girls.	NA +
(9)	Cheadle 2010 [10]	United States	Implementation and evaluative of partnership and networking	Older people	Physical activity (PA)	Social ecologic model	To describe a community organising approach to promoting physical activity among underserved older adults in southeast Seattle	New senior exercise programs were created including walking groups and Enhance Fitness classes. Ten new walking groups were started in a variety of community settings. The project organiser worked with staff at Parks and Recreation to identify sites, do promotion and outreach, and in some cases lead the walking groups. Low-income seniors started being part of the new PA program. A new community health coalition was formed with senior PA as a major area of focus.	Yes
(10)	Cheadle 2009 [9]	United States	Project evaluation	Older people	Physical activity	Community organising model	To report final SESPAN evaluation findings and lessons learned during implementation	‘SESPAN (The Southeast Seattle Senior Physical Activity Network) networking among organizations led to the creation of a number of senior physical activity programs that continue to serve previously underserved, low-income, multicultural communities in Southeast Seattle. In addition, the health coalition established through the SESPAN project, HARVC, has the potential to continue to generate new, sustainable programs and environmental changes. Most of these physical activity programs have secure funding sources and organizational support that give them a good chance of being sustained.’	Yes
(11)	Denham 1998 [11]	United States	Qualitative research	Qualitative study of community organisers	Health promotion	Cottrell’s Community Competency framework with eight areas of focus	(a) To examine how community organising was being used for health promotion efforts in rural areas (b) To explore mechanisms of improving community competence through community organising	Through 11 in-depth interviews with community organisers in rural areas of North Carolina, this study summarised several ways to increase dimensions of community competence. Factors such as promoting face-to-face interactions between community members, maintaining community control, making space for skills training makes way for success. It was also found that community organising promote communication and helps maintain community’s control over decision-making.	NA +
(12)	Doherty 2006 [12]	United States	Participatory research	Adult patients with diabetes, Children and adolescents (with diabetes), First nations people of the USA	Culturally appropriate healthcare access, Other-diabetes management, better well-being	Citizens Health Care	To describe the origins of the citizen health care model, its core tenets and practices, and examples of how this model has been applied in community settings.	Health behaviour changes were observed, majority of “support partnership” were successful in changing health behaviours positively. The Health Maintenance Organisation is considering expanding the partnership program to more clinical sites. Motivation to adopt healthier lifestyle was observed amongst patients who participated. Improvements in cultural awareness amongst clinical researchers involved. Families and health care providers had fellowship, education and support every fortnight. These meetings all started with members checking and recording each other’s blood sugars, weights and conducting foot checks. Culturally appropriate meals and nutrition education was provisioned for at meetings. Other activities also include exercise, education, and support sharing.	Yes
(13)	Douglas 2016 [13]	United States	Case study	Case study 1—low-income communities Case study 2—Asian immigrant and refugee communities	New & expectant mother support, breastfeeding, infant health, childhood obesity and wider health issues	Communities Creating Healthy Environments (CCHE) Change Model and Evaluation Frame	To address proximal and distal determinants of childhood obesity in low-income communities through community organising focused on organizational capacity building and community empowerment	Case 1—The report was viewed more than 1500 times. They were able to raise awareness by getting the Jackson Health System to promote breastfeeding. Case 2—community base increased from 200 to 377 and number of leaders from 4 to 47. Leaders gained awareness of zoning and the rights of tenants. Increased community empowerment and awareness on health impacts related to zoning, green spaces, and housing. Published a newsletter.	Yes
(14)	Fawcett 2018 [14]	United States	Empirical Case Study	Marginalised neighbourhoods/communities/groups	Healthcare access and equity; culturally appropriate healthcare access	Playbook for implementing organisational change	To help assure linkage to quality and culturally competent health services within the Latino Health for all coalitions	Organisational structures were established to address the intermediary aim of cultural competence in both health departments involved. More than 100 people received training in implementing the diabetes prevention program. Insurance enrolment numbers also increased during the intervention period, even though it could not be attributed to the intervention alone. The study provided a model for how health and community organisations can work together to improve health access of the vulnerable population groups.	Yes
(15)	Flick 1994 [15]	United States	Qualitative research	Marginalised neighbourhoods/communities/groups	Healthy eating; Healthcare access and equity; Other: Health literacy	Freir’s theory of adult education	To analyse efforts to empower a community through a partnership between a diverse, integrated neighbourhood in a large city and a graduate program for community health nurses.	In one case study, a school was prevented from closure. The second case study showed that the threat to health centre funding worsened conflict in the community organising group, created factions and destroyed trust. Funding was eventually secured but the funding conditions caused further conflict even though the funding was extended.	NA +
(16)	Haseda 2019 [38]	Japan	Quasi-experimental	Older adults	Older adults’ social activities	Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES) Health Equity Assessment and Response Tool	To explore the effectiveness of community-organizing interventions on older adults’ participation in social activities	Local health staff member empowerment increased older male residents’ involvement in social activities. However, the frequency of going out did not show a clear association with the intervention.	Yes
(17)	Hatch 1978 [16]	United States	Case report	General population	Health education	Rothman’s locality development model	To develop problem-solving capacities and improve community integration through organising and assimilate information effectively to improve community health	Even after the original steering committee was discontinued, community members organised their own council. Funding was arranged for a housing program and a community leaders’ health education training program was successfully developed. The community members identified their new community leadership roles to come up with solutions	Yes
(18)	Hays 2003 [17]	United States	Process evaluation	People/communities of diverse genders (e.g., people who identify as non-binary or LBTQIA+)	Sexual/reproductive health and prevention	Alinsky-style organising (also known as IAF (Industrial Areas Foundation) style organising)	To build a strong, supportive young gay and bisexual men’s community where young gay and bisexual men nurture and protect each other, particularly from HIV	The Mpowerment Project mobilised youth to embrace their identities and support each other to take action on safer sex through different outreach events, and team performances such as “Gaywatch” bar outreach. Large events, such as dances, house parties, community forums, picnics, art shows were conducted as formal outreach. Smaller events such as weekly video parties, discussion groups and sports activities were also conducted. Beyond its preventive scope, the project creates a collective, community empowerment enabling the young men to organise together for taking on several other challenges they face.	Yes
(19)	Hedley 2002 [37]	Canada	Qualitative research	Older adults	Healthy eating	McKenzie & Smeltzer 1997 community organisation	To outline the development of a nutrition education program for older adults using a community organisation approach, including how it is revised based on evaluation and a community’s expressed needs.	The participants were more informed about nutrition and resources and started eating better (anecdotally) post intervention. They also enjoyed providing advice and opinions about appropriate nutrition activities	Yes
(20)	Hildebrandt 1994 [39]	South Africa	Project evaluation	Older adults	Health promotion (non-specific)	Eight step process	To meet community health needs through self-care and CIH, especially among vulnerable or disadvantaged populations.	Four programs were implemented—1. Health education & screening programs 2. Literacy program 3. Food gardening program 4. Nutrition education including food preparation and basic nutrition	Yes
(21)	Hilgendorf 2016 [18]	United States	Process evaluation of a pilot project	General population	Obesity	Collective Impact; Coalition Action	To summarise the lessons learned from a novel approach by the Wisconsin Obesity Prevention Initiative for community action towards obesity prevention	Lessons learnt from the project were: Developing understanding and capacity for coalition action and community organising takes time. Community organising helped local concerns related to the root causes of obesity, including poverty and transit resurface. Coalition and community organising also drew attention to cultural assets for health promotion (for example: traditional food practices, and links between cultural loss and obesity)	NA +
(22)	Kang 2015 [19]	United States	Qualitative research	Multiracial and historically marginalised communities	Healthy lifestyles (non-specific lifestyle prevention/modification)	Community-based participatory research (CBPR) and Psychosocial capacity building model	To build resilience and health in economically disadvantaged communities develop collective efficacy and social cohesion	Intergenerational community organising can be a good alternative to the youth-leadership development approach for social workers; Engaging in a healthy collective contributes to a sense of connection and affirmation; the community members became actors and creators of collective knowledge through the course of the study	Yes
(23)	Livingston 2018 [20]	United States	Community Intervention trial	First Nations (Cherokee) children and adolescents in Oklahoma	Substance use (alcohol, tobacco, illicit and includes violence and associated behaviours)	Communities Mobilizing for Change on Alcohol (CMCA)	To evaluate effects of 2 alcohol prevention interventions—a community organizing intervention designed to reduce youth alcohol access, and an individual-level screening and brief intervention to reduce other drug use outcomes	Both interventions were associated with statistically significant decreases in the number of nonalcohol drugs used in the past 30 days.	Yes
(24)	McKenzie 2004 [35]	UK	Quasi-experimental	General population	Cancer prevention	Community Organising and Building Model as outlined by McKenzie & Smeltzer (2001).	(a) To raise awareness about factors increasing an individual’s risk of developing cancer and ways to reduce the risk (b) To provide screening opportunities for colorectal cancer to individuals who are at higher risk but are likely to be missed out of the screening	A multiactivity intervention was created alongside two award-winning videos. 150 community volunteers were trained to deliver the education/screening program. 185 sessions reached more than 6000 individuals. The teachers of the intervention schools perceived the program to have been useful among their students. Cancer awareness was found to have been raised in the participants and more than 65% of the surveyed individuals said they would change at least one behaviour to reduce their cancer risk.	Yes
(25)	Parker 2010 [21]	United States	Qualitative research	Children and adolescents	Local environment factors (as a determinant of health/wellbeing); Other: Asthma	Community capacity framework	To identify the dimensions of community capacity that were enhanced as part of a CBPR community health development approach to reducing physical and social environmental triggers associated with childhood asthma and the factors that facilitated or inhibited the enhancement of community capacity	Several dimensions of community capacity were enhanced as part of a CBPR community health development approach, including in leadership, community participation, knowledge and policy advocacy skills, resource identification, social and organisational networks, a sense of community, understanding of community history, community power and values.	Yes
(26)	Perry 2000 [22]	United States	Community randomised trial	Children and adolescents	Substance use (alcohol, tobacco, illicit and includes violence and associated behaviours)	Community Action; Collective Impact	To describe the development and implementation process of Project Northland intervention which is focused on delaying on-set and reducing adolescent alcohol use using community-wide, multiyear, multiple interventions	At the end of Phase one that spanned 7 years, there were significant reductions in alcohol use among intervention students—a 20% reduction in past-month drinking and a 30% reduction in past-week drinking. By the 10th year, even after 2 years without a substantive intervention program, there were no significant differences between the intervention and reference groups. By the end of 11th grade, after 1 year of Phase two intervention activities, students in the intervention group drank less, but this was not statistically significant. However, among baseline nonusers, the difference between groups in past-week alcohol use was marginally significant (p < 0.07) at the end of the 11th grade, suggesting some impact from the 11th-grade intervention among these students.	Yes
(27)	Poole 1997 [23]	United States	Longitudinal study	Children and adolescents	Health promotion (non-specific); Healthcare access and equity	Collective Impact; Community Health Planning Committee	To improve children’s access to health care through Medicaid’s Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment (EPSDT) and other public health programs	The Medicaid officials accepted the data collected and reported by the Healthy Kids project as reliable. The screening ratios in the Garfield County where the community organising was implemented was found to be the highest and it was attributed to the Healthy Kids project.	Yes
(28)	Rask 2015 [24]	United States	Qualitative research	Health care facilities and organisations	Coordination of health services to prevent avoidable emergency presentations	Community organising process	To reach out to healthcare providers and organisations to determine initiatives for supporting reduced hospital readmissions.	There were reductions in readmissions to the Anchor hospital system from the participating facilities. Over the time, the participating facilities became more capable of retaining patients during the critical first 30 days after discharge.	Yes
(29)	Ross 2011 [25]	United States	Case report	Children and adolescents	Substance use	Community-based participatory research (CBPR)	To explore factors that facilitate and pose barriers to active youth involvement in a long-term, tobacco-related community change initiative.	The Teens Tackle Tobacco project exposed the young people’s sense of (in)justice. CBPR helped the youth develop research skills needed to channel their outrage into an effective and multilevel campaign. The project helped change their view of themselves as community change makers.	Yes
(30)	Salem 2005 [26]	United States	Descriptive research design	General population	Healthy lifestyles Healthy eating; Healthcare access and equity; Other: Community safety, economic development	Collective Impact	(a) To increase the capacity of communities to participate in public health decision making; (b) To promote new partnerships, both within individual communities and across the city; (c) To provide communities with an organised voice and access to decision makers; and (d) To determine an appropriate role for the public health department in supporting community-based health improvement activities	- Increased the availability of healthy foods as the proportion of neighbourhood stores selling fresh produce increased from 32% to 58% - Another effort aimed to increase community participation in crime-prevention activities was a success, with increased attendance at meetings in the two police beats where the block clubs were formed increased by 75 percent. - Development of new partnerships, such as a partnership between a local social service agency and school that resulted in grant funding to improve test scores and offer after-school programs; the availability of preventive health care screenings and exercise classes at block parties and other community forums - Community organizations and residents have learned how to work as a team through community initiatives such as the garden, block clubs, and community meetings	Yes
(31)	Santilli 2016 [27]	United States	Longitudinal study	General population	Health promotion (non-specific); Healthy lifestyles (non-specific lifestyle prevention/modification); Better wellbeing	Community organising principles	To strengthen capacity, responsibility, and sustainability of neighbourhood-driven health interventions focused on chronic disease prevention and healthy lifestyles	42% of survey participants reported changes in their neighbourhood that make living a healthier lifestyle easier. Fewer participants reported eating unhealthy foods and getting no exercise. The project results were also used by neighbourhood associations, community-based and non-profit organizations, hospitals and health centres, governmental entities, and businesses in presentations, health services planning, reports, grant applications, and business plans.	Yes
(32)	Saxon 2021 [28]	United States	Case report	Women	Gender discrimination/violence/hostility; Healthcare access and equity	Ganz’s community-organizing model	To understand the processes to facilitate change and improve health among underserved populations in three programs in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh	The study found that public health approaches can benefit from community organizing to develop local engagement and participation. The study concluded that a data-driven public health approach combined with community-based participatory efforts contributes to this change.	Yes
(33)	Subica 2016 [29]	United States	Project evaluation	Children and adolescents	Obesity; Healthy lifestyles Physical activity; Healthy eating; Local environment factors	Alinsky-style organising (also known as IAF (Industrial Areas Foundation) style organising)	To presents outcomes of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Communities Creating Healthy Environments (CCHE) initiative: the first national program to apply community organizing to combat childhood obesity-causing structural inequities in communities of colour	The CCHE grantees utilised community-organising practices to generate 72 environmental and policy solutions to childhood obesity across 21 communities, across six domains: two directly addressed childhood obesity by enhancing children’s healthy food and recreational access, whereas four indirectly addressed obesity by promoting access to quality health care, clean environments, affordable housing, and discrimination- and crime-free neighbourhoods.	Yes
(34)	Tataw 2020 [30]	United States	Case study design	Community members living in a health district comprised of four-county region	Reporting on the state of community partnership as a part of Community Health Improvement Plan implementation	A conceptual framework that combines organizing theory and horizontal participatory approaches	(a) To use a conceptual framework to guide both process analysis and survey data analysis (b) To identify strengths and limitations in partnership and participation in the planning and implementation of a community health improvement plan (c) To discuss the implications for community health research and practice	Partner synergy, cultural and structural relationships were found to be strong in the horizontal participatory approach, while community participation (especially of the minorities and marginalised groups) and social action were found minimal. A complete participatory model of practice promoting a wider community participation was recommended.	NA +
(35)	Wagenaar 1999 [31]	United States	A 15-community randomised trial	General population	Substance use (alcohol, tobacco, illicit and includes violence and associated behaviours)	Communities Mobilizing for Change on Alcohol ‘CMCA’ to implement changes in local institutional policies.	To describe actions taken by organisers and strategy teams across the seven intervention communities and share lessons and results of implementing the large-scale community trial	The intervention teams changed policies and practices of community institutions such as law enforcement agencies, alcohol merchants, and sponsors of community events. This led to significant changes in alcohol-related behaviours among 18- to 20-year-olds, and significant reductions in the alcohol establishments’ tendency to serve alcohol to youth.	Yes
(36)	Wagoner 2010 [32]	United States	Cohort study	Young adults	Substance use (alcohol, tobacco, illicit and includes violence and associated behaviours)	Community organising conceptual model	(a) To explore and characterise the process of community organising used by university-based community organisers. (b) To develop and confirm the use of a community organizing model to create coalitions and implement environmental change on college campuses and surrounding communities.	Severe consequences due to students’ alcohol consumption and alcohol-related injuries were reduced after 3 years of intervention.	Yes
(37)	Weeks 2013 [33]	United States	Mixed methods observational case study design	“At-risk” population and their peers, health and social service patients and clients.	Sexual/reproductive health and prevention	Community empowerment, social ecology, social learning, innovation diffusion.	(a) To develop a coalition that is able to design and implement and sustain multilevel interventions to increase availability, accessibility and support for female condoms (b) To design and implement a multilevel intervention to increase availability, accessibility and support for female condoms	A community coalition was developed, and the interventions developed were received positively by the target population. The use of female condom improved, shops began introducing female condoms, there was an increased promotion of the product. The authors identified these changes suggesting potential for sustainable changes at individual, organisational and community levels.	Yes
(38)	Zanoni 2011 [34]	United States	Case study	Children and adolescents	Obesity; Other: Asthma	Community organising with a focus on power	To confront the epidemics of asthma and obesity in Latina/o children that result in premature death through an environmental justice partnership between health researchers and Latina/or organisations	The study found that community-based health partnerships help parents raise their voices and challenge the status quo of social inequity by taking actions to affect their children’s schools and community.	Yes

* Intervention success defined as per the original study’s findings. + Not Available.