Abstract

Community engagement is widely acknowledged as a learning-centric approach that facilitates health promotion and mitigates social inequities, especially among vulnerable groups like migrant communities with restricted access to public services. This qualitative case study investigated factors that facilitate community health development using a community engagement paradigm, focusing specifically on lifelong learning as a means for enduring community participation and capacity enhancement. The research was carried out in border settlements in Ratchaburi Province, Thailand, which hosts a significant number of migrant workers.

Data were collected through document analysis, in-depth interviews with key informants, focus group discussions, participant and non-participant observation, and subsequently evaluated through content analysis. The findings reveal that effective community health development depends on several interconnected conditions: the leadership capacities of community actors to facilitate collective learning; the exchange of formal knowledge and culturally embedded local wisdom; the formation of mutual agreements grounded in cultural reconciliation and an ethos of mutual understanding that promotes trust and non-discrimination; the integration of lifelong learning processes that foster continuous learning, critical reflection, and adaptive problem-solving; and the strengthening of reciprocal social capital through multi-sectoral partnerships.

These conditions establish community engagement as a dynamic learning process that enhances sustained commitment, fosters inclusive learning environments, and contributes to long-term community health and social equity.

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