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Question: I have nursing students working at a subsidized housing complex. The tenants have multiple issues - mental illness, drug and alcohol addictions, past homelessness. The students plan is to help the community to determine a health concern and then work together to develop a strategy. The problem is that none of the tenants will come to any of the introductory events, such as Meet and Greet, Coffee and a Chat. They do not fill out any surveys even though the students deliver door to door. I have asked the students to look at what might be some of the reasons that could be keeping the ten ants from participating. Do you have any suggestions on how to gather feedback from the actual tenants themselves though? Would you suggest that we access this data by going through some of the other local agencies that support the tenants?I did access your chapter on difficulties in getting people to participate, but our problem is that they will not participate at all, even when there is food!
Answer: Thank you for contacting Ask an Advisor. This is not an unusual challenge when persons from "outside" come to a setting where local residents are guarded or need to be cautious. The chapter on promoting participation can be helpful, but this is a bit of a different situation where developing trust when you enter a new setting is very important. We have found that developing partnerships with persons who are trusted at the setting is a helpful strategy when they can introduce you to the setting. Talking with service providers who have worked in the area can be helpful in starting. Perhaps a systematic assessment of the setting resources, its history of past interventions, and community gatekeepers will help to understand how your initiative is viewed by the residents. When we have tried similar initiatives, the preparation needed to build trust among residents to allow students to "enter" into their setting may be hard to accomplish in one semester. There is a section of the website "Understanding Culture, Social Organization, and Leadership to Enhance Engagement" than can be helpful. The website path to this section is: Table of Contents > Part H. Cultural Competence, Spirituality, and the Arts a... > Chapter 27. Cultural Competence in a Multicultural World > Section 10. Understanding Culture, Social Organization, and L... > Main Section - Introduction, what, why, when, who, and how. > Thanks again for contacting Ask an Advisor at CTB. We hope the information was useful.
Question Date: Tue, 06/09/2009