Ask an Advisor Questions

Is your toolkit for module 7, Developing an Intervention, the same as the project management cycle? For example, if I want to help increase transportation access for low-income immigrants in my community so they can get to the clinic, should I start with module 7?

Hi,
My name is Laura and I am currently the coordinator for a sexual assault nurse examiner program. Although the program has been around for numerous years in the community, the number of victims we have attending the hospital for evaluation is very minimal comparatively to the number of sexually violent crimes that occurring in the community.
I am currently struggling to have nurses interested in the program due to the on call portion, and I also struggle to maintain the nurses I have trained because they are not seeing cases often enough to feel confident in this area of practice. Sadly, this has led to victims not receiving the care they deserve because of the lack of on call coverage.
I also feel there is a disconnect between the hospital SANE program and receiving support in the community. I feel that I need to give all resources and counselling in that first initial appointment, because the likelihood of being able to follow up with the victim is minimal. I worry that there is community based services that could be offered, but the patient would have to make the effort to reach out themselves, and they may not be in the place to do so after a traumatic event. And most likely, they will not remember much of the education because these individuals are still in shock from the event that occurred to them.
Lastly, sometimes there is a duplication of services. So for example, if an individual was assaulted and seen by a sane nurse, but also disclosed that they have no where to live that is safe- the sane nurse may try to tackle this instead of social work in the hospital, which is part of their service.
As a fairly new nurse and new to a coordinator role- I want to build a program that is most effective for the community, while not breaching on others job roles, and hoping address some of the services that are missing completely in the community.
Where do I start? How do I become a better leader?

Your website is wonderful ( I have accidentally but fortunately stumbled on)

I work with a century-old global organization, Zonta International (Zonta.org) We aim to build a better world for women and girls.

I am currently looking to expand in Chile and wonder if you have any advisors in that country?

Thank you!

Hello, I am looking at using your toolbox in my college course. I was curious when the last time the toolbox was updated? Thanks, Suzanne

where to find sources in the communities to assist with different needs and maintenance

Hi,
I live in a community-driven neighborhood in San Diego and wanted to contribute to the community building efforts. I was thinking of building a collective problem tree (and subsequently solution tree) to tackle community needs and identify assets and resources by interviewing individuals of this community. I would be posting this community needs assessment online, to raise awareness and try to promote meaningful actionable path to tackle those needs. I want to bring light to needs identified by community members, promote community ownership and mobilization of resources to eventually act upon those needs. I am still working on the questionnaire, do you have any advice by any chance? Thank you

I am trying to develop an Integrated Prevention Program in a military setting, frames after the public health model of tier 1 prevention. We are trying to assess the current state and build as needed our prevention system - the people, the relationships and infrastructure (specifically data, current policies, current prevention efforts, etc.) I am looking for a structured or semi structured interview tool or assessment tool that our working group can use to capture the information needed to understand our current system and the gaps. We are not even close to a needs assessment. This is literally building our framework system to then build our processes.

Hi Community Toolbox! We are planning a piece of action research in relation to sexual gender based violence in Bangladesh and want to include different community representatives on a steering/monitoring/oversight committee and wondered if you have any suggestions on recruiting people to such a committee since the number of potential stakeholders will be quite large?
Thank you.
Best,
Patrick

I have a 12-year-old nephew living in Haverhill mass who would like to be part of an organization on changing the school system. He feels the school system is outdated, and kids are not being taught skills that would be beneficial to real life situations/jobs, as well as the teaching skills of teachers and children, not being taught in the way they are able to learn well. He would like information on who to write to regarding this and what actions he could take as a 12-year-old kid be it organizations to join, etc..

Hello,
I am an Irish psychology student currently studying abroad in Bulgaria. Here, I am taking a course in disability, accomodation & adaption, and the psychology of social change with Prof. Ronald Harvey. As part of these courses, I will be working alongside disabled students at our university; our goal is to make the disability services here more accessible and receptive to students' needs. One major barrier to this has been the students' self advocacy, particularly for those with invisible disabilities: Many students choose not to disclose their disabilities due to previous bad experiences and a lack of faith in the services.

Even if I am unable to make policy changes to the university, I still want to change students' attitude, to encourage them to engage more with these services and with each other. To this end, I wanted to ask for advice on how to build self-advocacy and solidarity in a community of (primarily invisibly) disabled college students. Currently, I am looking towards peer-run solutions that give disabled students agency to represent and campaign for themselves (for example, peer-support groups for wellbeing, peer-run meet and greets or campus orientations).

I also want to take inspiration from my home university and their access programme (the Maynooth Access Programme or MAP). Student Central is one aspect of this programme that links disabled students to an assistant psychologist and offers them one-to-one academic support. I don't think I'll manage to find an assistant psychologist, but I am interested in setting up a similar mentor-support network between junior and senior students.

Of these suggestions (or if you have others), is there one that would be most feasible to achieve? And are these effective ways to foster community, solidarity, and self-advocacy amongst these students? If there is anything else I should explain or clarify, I would be happy to do so. Thank you so much for your time and I look forward to your response.

Naoise

I need to devise a plan according your toolbox to become adherent to GGHHI on a Health care waste management program in my hospital

Hello, I am part of the Psychology of Social Change Class. My professor, Ronald Harvey, mentioned you can help me and my partner. We are doing a project about drug and alcohol prevention. We are looking for effective ways to approach our research. Any information or advice would be appreciated.

Thank you in advance.