Kommunale Gesundheitskompetenz und kommunale Kapazitätsentwicklung

From the perspective of critical health literacy, communities should have the necessary capacity to shape the social determinants of health locally. Although capacity building approaches are becoming increasingly widespread in community-based health promotion, they have hardly been researched in Germany. This article examines how different facets of community capacity for prevention and health promotion are developed in German cities and municipalities, and whether the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has influenced community-based health promotion.

The database is the second wave of a survey of community key informants (n = 235) from 30 cities and municipalities in Lower Saxony, Rhineland–Palatinate and Baden–Württemberg conducted by the CTC-EFF (Effectiveness of the Community Prevention System Communities That Care) study in 2023. Data were collected on local conditions and community capacity for prevention and health promotion (PHP). Descriptive analyses were carried out.

Capacity aspects such as the community’s ability to solve problems, interorganizational exchange of information and support from the people living in the communities for interventions to prevent problematic youth behavior were rated highly in most communities. Facets that show deficits in many communities are strategic planning, linking and coordination of measures, resource allocation, interorganizational sharing of resources, evidence-based approach and public relations work on local services. The COVID-19 pandemic had a major impact on prevention work in most communities. There are indications of catch-up effects in the implementation of PHP measures.

The results reveal some strengths and many weaknesses in the community capacity for PHP. Effective capacity development approaches should be used to increase the critical health literacy of communities. The generalizability of the results is limited and there is a need for further research on the topic.