Certified in Public Health (CPH) Practice Exam

Which of the following is defined as a community's ability to define and solve its own problems?

1. Social capital

2. Community development

3. Community organization

4. Community capacity

The correct answer is: Community capacity

The correct choice is community capacity, which refers to a community's ability to identify its own issues and effectively address them. This concept encompasses the skills, strengths, and resources that a community possesses to implement solutions for its challenges. It highlights the importance of self-determination and the empowerment of community members to take action collectively. Building community capacity involves fostering leadership, increasing participation, and enhancing relationships among community members, which leads to greater resilience and adaptability in facing various challenges. It emphasizes strengths-based approaches, where the focus is on harnessing existing resources and capabilities rather than solely addressing deficits. The other options, while related to community dynamics, do not specifically capture the essence of communities defining and solving their own problems. Social capital focuses on the networks and relationships among people in a community; community development refers to processes and initiatives for improving the economic, social, and environmental well-being of a community; and community organization pertains to the efforts involved in bringing people together to identify needs and mobilize resources. These aspects are important but do not encapsulate the overarching framework of a community's capacity to tackle its own problems.