Abstract
Background: Community engagement and social mobilization are widely used strategies in public health interventions, yet limited empirical evidence exists comparing their effectiveness, sustainability, and long-term impact, particularly from practitioners’ perspectives in Nigeria. This study explored practitioners' perceptions of both strategies in Minna, Niger State, Nigeria.
Methods: A descriptive qualitative research design was adopted. Data were collected through semi-structured key informant interviews with 21 purposively selected public health practitioners from state government agencies, development partner organizations, and local government authority health departments. Data were analyzed using Braun and Clarke's six-phase thematic analysis framework with NVivo 16 software, generating six themes and twelve categories.
Results: Practitioners described community engagement as a structured, multi-dimensional participatory process involving community participation, stakeholder involvement, gatekeeper engagement, and shared decision-making. It was perceived as important for public health intervention success and required continuous rather than episodic implementation. Reported outcomes included improved service uptake, enhanced acceptance, strengthened trust, reduced non-compliance, and community ownership. Social mobilization was viewed as effective for generating rapid awareness through diverse communication channels, but was characterized as incentive-dependent, shallow in participation, and less sustainable. Community engagement was consistently perceived as more sustainable due to stronger ownership, durable behavior change, and enhanced community agency. Both strategies were viewed as complementary.
Conclusion: The study concludes that, from practitioners’ perspectives, community engagement was perceived as more effective for long-term sustainability and behavior change, while social mobilization was valued for rapid awareness creation. Public health systems in Nigeria should institutionalize community engagement while strategically deploying social mobilization to maximize both immediate and long-term health gains.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Copyright (c) 2026 Lawizah Usman, Sadiq Yusuf, Hadijah Usman-Yamman, Philomena Hope Ajayi, Okedare Tobi Victor, Nma Usman Abdul, Samuel Bulus Kaze, Mahmud Fauziya Tanko, Junaidu Inuwa, Abdulsalam Ahmed (Author)