Building a Community Based Citizenship in Reaching out Urban Setting Strategies

Reaching out strategies is a central issue for developing social health services and prevention in different urban community settings. It is particularly important when there are different marginalized population including aged persons, newcomers from immigration and refugees, homeless people, people suffering of mental health diseases and other. We present here the results of a participative action research based on a clinical sociology approach valuing partnership and dialogue. Participating in the research were researchers, practitioners coming from two public health and social institutions, community groups and engaged citizens to develop a citizenship initiative of reaching out marginalized people living in two large neighborhoods in Montreal city, province of Quebec, Canada. A first phase of that reaching out strategy was conducted during the COVID crises. It was aimed at recruiting ordinary citizens to contact marginalized people who were not using the public services and necessary measures to avoid the disease. Person to person contact was the most privileged action. A second phase is now developing to include a variety of social problems: loneliness, mental health, social including using similar reaching out actions. The global aim is then to create a local citizen mobilization to help the more marginalized people accessing public services, but also, to get organized through a more collective way of participating in the community as active citizens. We conclude with a critical analysis of that experience identifying the different possibilities and obstacles of such a promising reaching out strategy.