Participation' goals of Community- based organizations in the COVID-19 pandemic based on capacity gaps: A cross-sectional study

There have been criticisms that local authorities develop disaster planning independently, which led to less sensitiveness and responsibility of community‑based organizations (CBOs). Disasters planning should incorporate into CBOs’ management processes. This study aims to set goals of a community‑based plan based on preparedness capacities that CBOs need to have in the COVID‑19 pandemic.

This cross‑sectional study used a prevalidated and reliable questionnaire assessing (CBOs). The tool assesses preparedness in the field of planning, training, and infrastructure. Forty CBOs met the inclusion criteria as assisting or cooperating agencies during the COVID‑19 pandemic. Then, key informants, who simultaneously have been working in the health system and CBOs, prioritized low‑scale items that have shown capacity gaps according to effects on the vulnerable group, sustainability, and capability of the health system. Descriptive statistics performed using SPSS18 software (SPSS Inc., Chicago, USA).

The results showed that the preparedness of CBOs was weak in the field of planning, training, and infrastructure. Besides, overlaps of CBOs’ resources and covering the clients’ medical needs in the COVID‑19 pandemic were the most priority that needs to be intervened.

Providing medical needs by CBOs require legal legitimacy assigned by health authority, especially in epidemic‑prone diseases. In addition, assigning a coordinator to set a priority list and mutual agreements authoried by health departments can solve the problem of overlapped resources. Therefore, functional roles of CBOs in the pandemic should focus mostly on resource allocation and the medical needs of clients to set goals and functional objectives.