I DIALOGHI COMUNITARI DI RETE PER PROMUOVERE UN WELFARE DI COMUNITÀ. RIFLESSIONI A PARTIRE DA UNA RICERCA EMPIRICA

In order to promote community wellbeing that is capable of addressing social problems by valuing the actions of community members, it is important for practitioners to develop interventions in a participatory way. Community Network Dialogues are a structured decision-making process that supports the equal participation of service users, family members, citizens, social workers and policy makers. The paper presents the results of action research carried out in Lombardy with the aim of experimenting and exploring Community Network Dialogues in the planning of communi- ty-based interventions. It presents the design results of 10 dialogue sessions involving 126 people, including families and individual citizens, volunteers from non-profit organisations, policy makers and professionals. The study, conducted through analysis of the drafts written at the end of each dialogue and the questionnaires completed by the participants, highlights the concerns as well as the coping strategies shared. The data also show that the level of concern about the social problem decreases significantly at the end of the dialogue session. The research highlights the potential of Community Network Dialogues as a structured method for participatory planning of community care interventions.