Chapter 18. Deciding Where to Start | Community Tool Box

Adapted from "Conducting intervention research: The design and development process" by Stephen B. Fawcett et al.

You've put together a group of motivated, savvy people, who really want to make a difference in the community. Maybe you want to increase adults' physical activity and reduce risks for heart attacks; perhaps you want children to read more and do better in school. Whatever you want to do, the end is clear enough, but the means--ah, the means are giving you nightmares. How do you reach that goal your group has set for itself? What are the best things to do to achieve it?

Generally speaking, what you're thinking about is intervening in people's environments, making it easier and more rewarding for people to change their behaviors. In the case of encouraging people's physical activity, you might provide information about opportunities, increase access to opportunities, and enhance peer support. Different ways to do this are called, sensibly enough, interventions. Comprehensive interventions combine the various components needed to make a difference.

What is an intervention?

An intervention is a deliberate action or set of actions designed to create positive change. Interventions can take many forms, including programs, policies, practices, environmental changes, communication campaigns, or community initiatives.

What makes something an intervention is not its form, but its purpose: to influence behaviors, conditions, or systems in ways that improve outcomes for individuals, organizations, or communities. Effective interventions often go beyond encouraging people to change their behavior. They also address environmental, social, and structural factors that shape what people are able to do.

For example, a community may seek to prevent sexual violence. While public awareness messages can help increase understanding of the issue, research shows that lasting change often requires addressing the conditions that contribute to violence and support safety, respect, and accountability.

Interventions to prevent sexual violence might include:

• Improving street lighting, transportation options, and other environmental features that increase community safety.
• Providing safe ride programs or other transportation services so people can travel safely, especially at night.
• Offering education and skill-building programs that promote healthy relationships, consent, bystander intervention, and violence prevention.
• Supporting policies and organizational practices that strengthen accountability, improve reporting and response systems, and increase access to services for survivors.
• Engaging community members, schools, workplaces, and organizations in creating cultures that promote respect, equity, and safety. 

 

In many cases, the most effective interventions combine multiple approaches, addressing both individual behaviors and the broader systems and environments that influence them. By creating supportive conditions for change, interventions can help communities achieve meaningful and lasting improvements in health, well-being, and quality of life.

Why should you develop interventions?

There are many strong advantages to using interventions as a means to achieve your goals. Some are very apparent; some possibly less so. Some of the more important of these advantages are:

• By designing and implementing interventions in a clear, systematic manner, you can improve the health and well-being of your community and its residents.
• Interventions promote understanding of the condition you are working on and its causes and solutions. Simply put, when you do something well, people notice, and the word slowly spreads. In fact, such an intervention can produce a domino effect, sparking others to understand the issue you are working on and to work on it themselves.

For example, a grade school principal in the Midwest was struck by the amount of unsupervised free time students had between three and six o'clock, when their parents got home from work. From visiting her own mother in a nursing home, she knew, too, of the loneliness felt by many residents of such homes. So she decided to try to lessen both problems by starting a "Caring Hearts" program. Students went to nursing homes to see older adults after school once or twice a week to visit, play games, and exchange stories.

Well, a reporter heard about the program, and did a feature article on it on the cover of the "Community Life" section of the local newspaper. The response was tremendous. Parents from all across town wanted their children involved, and similar programs were developed in several schools throughout the town.

• To do what you are already doing better. Finally, learning to design an intervention properly is important because you are probably doing it already. Most of us working to improve the health and well-being of members of our community design (or at least run) programs, or try to change policies such as local laws or school board regulations, or try to change the things some people regularly practice. By better understanding the theories behind choosing, designing, and developing an intervention, you will improve on the work you are currently doing.

When should you develop an intervention?

It makes sense to develop or redesign an intervention when:

• There is a community issue or problem that local people and organizations perceive as an unfilled need
• Your organization has the resources, ability, and desire to fill that need, and
• You have decided that your group is the appropriate one to accomplish it

The last of these three points deserves some explanation. There will always be things that your organization could do, that quite probably should be left to other organizations or individuals. For example, a volunteer crisis counseling center might find they have the ability to serve as a shelter for people needing a place to stay for a few nights. However, doing so would strain their resources and take staff and volunteers away from the primary mission of the agency.

In cases like this, where could does not equal should, your organization might want to think twice about developing a new intervention that will take away from the mission.

How do you develop an intervention?

So, people are mobilized, the coffee's hot, and you're ready to roll. Your group is ready to take on the issue--you want to design an intervention that will really improve conditions in the area. How do you start?

Decide what needs to happen

This could be a problem that needs to be solved, such as, "too many students are dropping out of school." However, it might be also a good thing, and you want to find a way to make more of it happen. For example, you might want to find a way to convince more adults to volunteer with school-aged children. At this point, you will probably want to define the problem broadly, as you will be learning more about it in the next few steps. Keep in mind these questions as you think about this:

• What behavior needs to change?
• Whose behavior needs to change?
• If people are going to change their behavior, what changes in the environment need to occur to make it happen? For example, if you want people to recycle, you'll have much better results if there is easy access to recycling bins.
• What specific changes should happen as a result of the intervention?

You don't need to have answers to all of these questions at this point. In fact, it's probably better to keep an open mind until you gather more information, including by talking with people who are affected (we'll get to that in the next few steps ). But thinking about these questions will help orient you and get you geared in the right direction.

Use a measurement system to gather information about the level of the problem

You will need to gather information about the level of the problem before you do anything to see if it is as serious as it seems, and to establish a standard for later improvement (or worsening).

Measurement instruments include:

• Direct observations of behavior. For example, you can watch whether merchants sell alcohol to people under the age of 21.
• Behavioral surveys. For example, the Youth Risk Behavior Survey of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention asks questions about drug use, sexual activity without protection against pregnancy or STIs, and violence.
• Interviews with key people. For example, you might ask about changes in programs, policies, and practices that the group helped bring about.
• Review of archival or existing records. For example, we might look at records of the rate of adolescent pregnancy, unemployment, or children living in poverty.

The group might review the level of the problem over time to detect trends--is the problem getting better or worse? It also might gather comparison information-- how are we doing compared to other, similar communities?

Decide who the intervention should help

In a childhood immunization program, your interventions would be aimed at helping children. Likewise, in a program helping people to live independently, the intervention would try to help older adults or people with disabilities. Your intervention might not be focused on a specific population, but be for the entire community. For example, perhaps you are trying to increase the amount of policing to make local parks safer. This change of law enforcement policy would affect people throughout the community.

Usually, interventions will target the people who will directly benefit from the intervention, but this isn't always the case. For example, a program to try to increase the number of parents and guardians who bring in their children for immunizations on time would benefit the children most directly. However, interventions wouldn't target them, since children aren't the ones making the decision. Instead, the primary "targets of change" for your interventions might be parents and health care professionals.

Before we go on, some brief definitions may be helpful. Targets of change are those people whose behavior you are trying to change. As we saw above, these people may be--but are not always--the same people who will benefit directly from the intervention. They often include others, such as public officials, who have the power to make needed changes in the environment. Agents of change are those people who can help make change occur. Examples might be local residents, community leaders, and policy makers. The "movers and the shakers," they are the ones who can make things happen--and who you definitely want to contribute to the solution.

Involve potential clients or end users of the intervention

Once you have decided broadly what should happen and who it should happen with, you need to make sure you have involved the people affected. Even if you think you know what they want--ask anyway. For your intervention to be successful, you can't have too much feedback. Some of these folks will likely have a perspective on the issue you hadn't even thought of.

Also, by asking for their help, the program becomes theirs. For example, by giving teachers and parents input in designing a "school success" intervention, they take "ownership" for the program. They become proud of it--which means they won't only use it, they?ll also support it and tell their friends, and word will spread.

Again, for ideas on how to find and choose these people, the section mentioned above on targets and agents of change may be helpful.

Identify the issues or problems you will attempt to solve together

There are a lot of ways in which you can talk with people affected about the information that interests you. Some of the more common methods include:

• Informal personal contact - just talking with people, and seeing what they have to say
• Interviews
• Focus groups
• Community forums
• Concerns surveys

When you are talking to people, try and get at the real issue--the one that is the underlying reason for what's going on. It's often necessary to focus not on the problem itself, but on affecting the cause of the problem.

For example, if you want to reduce the number of people in your town who are homeless, you need to find out why so many people in your town lack decent shelter: Do they lack the proper skills to get jobs? Is there a large population of people with mental health conditions that isn't receiving the help it should? Your eventual intervention may address deeper causes, seeming to have little to do with reducing homelessness directly, although that remains the goal.

Analyze these problems or the issue to be addressed in the intervention

Using the information you gathered in step five, you need to decide on answers to some important questions. These will depend on your situation, but many of the following questions might be appropriate for your purpose:

• What factors put people experiencing increased risk for (or protect them against) the problem or concern?
• Whose behavior (or lack of behavior) caused the problem?
• Whose behavior (or lack of behavior) maintains the problem?
• For whom is the situation a problem?
• What are the negative consequences for those directly affected?
• What are the negative consequences for the community?
• Who, if anyone, benefits from things being the way they are now?
• How do they benefit?
• Who should share the responsibility for solving the problem?
• What behaviors need to change to consider the problem "solved"?
• What conditions need to change to address the issue or problem?
• How much change is necessary?
• At what level(s) should the problem be addressed? Is it something that should be addressed by individuals; by families working together; by local organizations or neighborhoods; or at the level of the city, town, or broader environment?
• Will you be able to make changes at the level(s) identified? This question includes technical capability, ensuring you have enough money to do it, and that it is going to be politically possible.

Set goals and objectives

When you have gotten this far, you are ready to set the broad goals and objectives of what the intervention will do. Remember, at this point you still have NOT decided what that intervention will be. This may seem a little backwards to your normal thinking--but we're starting from the finish line, and asking you to move backwards. Give it a try--we think it will work for you.

Specifically, you will want to answer the following questions as concretely as you can:

• What should the intervention accomplish? For example, your goal might be for most of the people experiencing homelessness who are able to hold jobs do so by the end of the intervention.
• What will success look like? If your intervention is successful, how will you know it? How will you explain to other people that the intervention has worked? What are the "benchmarks" or indicators that show you are moving in the right direction?
• Finally, what are the specific objectives you want to achieve? When you are writing down your objectives, be as specific as possible. State how much change you want to see happen in what behaviors and activities. By whom? By when?
  • For example, you might say, "By 2010 (when), 80% of those currently experiencing homelessness (who) will be successfully employed at least part time (change sought)."

Learn what others have done

Now, armed with all of the information you have found so far, you are ready to start concentrating on the specific intervention itself. The easiest way to start this is by finding out what other people in your situation have done. Don't reinvent the wheel! There might be some "best practices"-- exceptional programs or policies--out there that are close to what you want to do. It's worth taking the time to try to find them.

Where do you look for promising approaches? There are a lot of possibilities, and how exhaustive your search will be will depend on the time and resources you have (not to mention how long it takes you to find something you like!) But some of the more common resources you might start with include:

• See what local examples are available. What has worked in your community? How about in nearby places? Can you figure out why it worked? If possible, talk to the people responsible for those approaches, and try to understand why and how they did what they did.
• Look for examples of what has been done in articles and studies in related fields. Sources might be professional journals, such as the American Journal of Public Health, or even occasionally, general news magazines. Also, look at interventions that have been done for related problems--perhaps they can be adapted for use by your group. Information and awareness events, for example, tend to be general in nature--you can do a similar event and change what it's for. A 5-K race might be planned, for example, to raise awareness of and money for breast cancer, to protest environmental destruction, and so on.
• National conferences. If you can, attending national meetings or conferences on the problem or issue you are trying to solve can give you excellent insight on some of the "best practices" that are out there.

Brainstorm ideas of your own

Take a sheet of paper and write down all of the possibilities you can think of. If you are deciding as a group, this could be done on poster paper attached to a wall, so everyone can see the possibilities-- this often works to help people come up with other ideas. Be creative!

Try to decide what interventions or parts of interventions have worked, and what might be applicable to your situation

What can your organization afford to do? And by afford, we mean financially, politically, time, and resource wise. For example, how much time can you put into this? Will the group lose stature in the community, or support from certain people, by doing a particular intervention?

When you are considering interventions done by others, look specifically for ones that are:

• Appropriate - Do they fit the group's purpose?
• Effective - Did they make a difference on behavior and outcome?
• Replicable - Are the details and results of what happened in the original intervention explained well enough to repeat what was done? Unfortunately, this isn't always the case--many people, when you talk to them, will say, "Oh! We just did it! "
• Simple - Is it clear enough for people in your group to do?
• Practical - Do we have the time and money to do this?
• Compatible with your situation - Does it fit local needs, resources, and values

Identify barriers and resistance you might come up against

What barriers and resistance might we face? How can they be overcome? Be prepared for whatever may come your way.

For example, a youth group to prevent substance use wanted to outlaw smoking on the high school campus by everyone, including the teachers and other staff members. However, they knew they would come up against resistance among teachers and staff members who smoked. How might they overcome that opposition?

Identify core components and elements of the intervention

Here is where we get to the nuts and bolts of designing an intervention.

First, decide the core components that will be used in the intervention. Much like broad strategies, these are the general things you will do as part of the intervention. They are the "big ideas" that can then be further broken down.

There are four classes of components to consider when designing your intervention:

1. Providing information and skills training
2. Enhancing support and resources
3. Modifying access and barriers
4. Monitoring and giving feedback

A comprehensive intervention will choose components for each of these four categories. For example, a youth mentoring program might choose the following components:

• For providing information and skills training, a component might be recruitment of youth and mentors
• For enhancing support and reinforcement, a component might be arranging celebrations among program participants
• For modifying access and barriers, a component might be making it easier to volunteer
• For monitoring and giving feedback, a component might be tracking the number of young people and volunteers involved

Next, decide the specific elements that compose each of the components. These elements are the distinct activities that will be done to implement the components.

For example, a comprehensive effort to prevent youth smoking might include public awareness and skills training, restricting tobacco advertising, and modifying access to tobacco products. For the component of trying to modify access, an element of this strategy might be to do 'stings' at convenience stores to see which merchants are selling tobacco illegally to adolescents. Another element might be to give stiffer penalties to adolescents who try to buy cigarettes, and to those merchants who sell.

Develop an action plan to carry out the intervention

When you are developing your action plan, you will want it to answer the following questions:

• What components and elements will be implemented?
• Who should implement what by when?
• What resources and support are needed? What are available?
• What potential barriers or resistance are expected? How will they be minimized?
• What individuals or organizations need to be informed? What do you need to tell them?

Pilot-test your intervention

None of us likes to fall flat on our face, but frankly, it's a lot easier when there aren't very many people there to watch us, and when there isn't a lot on the line. By testing your intervention on a small scale, you have the chance to work out the bugs and get back on your feet before the crowd comes in. When doing your pilot test, you need to do the following things:

• Decide how the intervention will be tested on a small scale
• Evaluate your results
• Pay particular attention to unintended consequences or side effects that you find when you evaluate your work
• Use feedback from those who tried the intervention to simplify and refine your plan

Implement your intervention

If you have followed all of the steps above, implementing your action plan will be easier. Go to it!

Constantly monitor and evaluate your work

When the wheels are turning and things seem to be under control, congratulations! You have successfully implemented your intervention! But of course, the work never ends. It's important to see if the intervention is working, and to "tweak" it and make changes as necessary.

In Summary

Designing an intervention, and doing it well, isn't necessarily an easy task. There are a lot of steps involved, and a lot of work to be done, if you are going to do it well. But by systematically going through the process, you are able to catch mistakes before they happen; you can stand on the shoulders of those who have done this work before you and learn from their successes and failures.

___You understand that an intervention can be a program, a change in policy, or a practice that becomes popular

___You understand that interventions focus on people's behaviors, and how changes in the environment can support those behaviors

___You understand the advantages of developing interventions

___You understand when you should develop or redesign interventions

Developing the intervention:

___You have decided what needs to happen

___You have used a measurement system to gather information about the level of the problem

___You have decided whom the intervention needs to help

___You have involved potential clients or end users of the intervention

___With these clients, you have identified the issues or problems you will attempt to solve together

___You have analyzed these problems or the issue to be addressed in the intervention

___You have set goals and objectives

___You have learned what others have done

___You have brainstormed your own ideas

___You have tried to decide what interventions or parts of interventions have worked, and what might be applicable to your situation

___You have identified barriers and resistance you might come up against

___You have identified core components and elements of the intervention

___You have developed an action plan to carry out the intervention

___You have pilot-tested your intervention

___You have implemented your intervention

Example 1: "Caring Pairs" Components and Elements Background Table

Problem/Issue to be Addressed	Pairing local children with adults in mutually helpful volunteer opportunities
Risk/Protective Factors	Opportunities to serve Stronger adult-youth relationships Stronger peer relationships Supervised alternative activities Stronger community support Social skills Improved academic performance Increased life options
Targets of Change	Corporations, faith institutions, schools, service organizations, adults, program staff, students, teachers, Federal and State agencies
Agents of Change	Advisory Board, School District Coordinators, program staff, current volunteers, school districts, YMCA, School District Coordinators, Students in kindergarten through twelfth grade
Components	Recruitment, matching, activities
Elements	Marketing, selection, background checks, activity assignment, orientation, training One-to-One Mentor Tutor Phone pal Career exploration Group After-school Facilitator Lunch reading group Church-school program Saturday activities Pregnant teen Support Group Basketball clinic Career Discovery Day
Mode/Context of Delivery	Media, businesses, faith institutions, nonprofit organizations, service organizations, government, schools, School District Coordinators, field trip locations

 Example 2: "Caring Pairs" Table of Components and Elements

	Providing Information and Enhancing Skills	Enhancing Support and resources	Modifying opportunities and barriers	Monitoring and Feedback
Components	- Recruitment - Matching	- Celebrations - Resource Sharing - Recognition	- Provide opportunities to serve - Making it easier to volunteer	- Tracking the number of youth and volunteers
Elements	- Promote awareness - Selection of volunteers - Background checks - Activity assignment - Orientation - Training	- Monthly celebrations - Agency newsletter - Articles on volunteers in town newspaper	- Change policies to allow flex time at work Opportunities: - Mentor - Tutor - Phone Pal - Career Exploration - After-school Facilitator - Lunch Reading Group - Church-School Program - Saturday activities - Pregnant teen Support Group - Basketball clinic - Career Discovery Day	- How many hours are spent by volunteers and youth? - How many volunteers and youth are involved?

 Example 3: Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program Components and Elements Background Table

Problem/Issue to be Addressed	Adolescent pregnancy is a serious problem in our community
Risk/Protective Factors	Knowledge of contraceptives, risks Access to contraceptives Skills Values and beliefs Problems at home (conflict, inconsistent rules from parents) Economic deprivation
Targets of Change	Adolescents, peers, parents and caregivers, teachers, service providers, business people, and elected and appointed officials
Agents of Change	Peers, parents and caregivers, teachers, service providers, religious leaders, business people, elected and appointed officials
Components	Sexuality education, develop community alliances, improve access to contraceptives, monitor rates of adolescent pregnancy, improve peer support, increase alternative activities
Elements	Offer graduate-level training for teachers in sexuality education Offer skills training for teens for the choice of avoiding unprotected sexual activity Use bulletin boards and the school newspaper to keep teens up-to-date on special events Begin a "brown bag" program for teens to buy contraceptives without others knowing what they are doing Start a support group to help teen mothers stay in school
Mode/Context of Delivery	Schools, media, businesses, faith institutions, service organizations

 Example 4: Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program Table of Components and Elements

	Providing Information and skills training	Enhancing support and resources	Modifying opportunities and barriers	Monitoring and Feedback
Components	- Sexuality education	- Provide peer support - Provide support from influential others - Develop community alliances	- Improve access to contraceptives	- Monitor rates of adolescent pregnancy
Elements	- Offer graduate-level training for teachers in sexuality education - Offer skills training to teens on avoiding unprotected sexual activity - Use bulletin boards and the school newspaper to keep teens up-to-date on special events	- Start a support group to help teen mothers stay in school - Establish a mentoring program for at-risk youth to gain access to potential employers and job opportunities	- Begin a "brown bag" program for teens to buy contraceptives without others knowing what they are doing - Contraception and information about its use will be made available at places where teens congregate	- How many teens report abstaining from intercourse? - How many teens report the use of contraceptives if they do engage in sexual activity? - How many teens become pregnant? - Report the estimated pregnancy rate to the community on an annual basis

 Example 5: Neighborhood Revitalization Project Components and Elements Background Table

Problem/Issue to be Addressed	We want to improve neighborhood life through better jobs, housing, and education.
Risk/Protective Factors	Economic deprivation Community disorganization Mobility Availability of illegal substances / weapons Skills training
Targets of Change	Business people, residents (including youth), elected and appointed officials, funders, higher education institutions
Agents of Change	Business people, residents (including youth), elected and appointed officials, funders, higher education institutions
Components	Job training, job availability, land reorganization, monitoring of joblessness, education and training
Elements	Develop adult literacy programs Expand affordable childcare Expand computer access for residents through local community organization Hold an annual job fair Provide loans to support small business development Clear land for new business Increase incentives to encourage rehabilitation of existing housing Increase clean up of yards, sidewalks, and vacant lots Build more low- and middle-income housing in the neighborhood
Mode/Context of Delivery	Businesses, housing authority, schools, media, faith institutions, service organizations

Example 6: Neighborhood Revitalization Project Table of Components and Elements

	Providing information and skils training	Enhancing support and resources	Modifying opportunities and barriers	Monitoring and Feedback
Components	- Increase job training - Provide information on job training - Increase general education	- Provide support for new businesses - Provide financial support for home rehabilitation	- Reduce barriers to going to work - Reorganize land use	- Monitoring joblessness, education
Elements	- Develop adult literacy programs - Hold an annual job fair - Develop programs to help residents obtain their GED - Increase the number of computers in schools - Establish a summer internship program for high school students	- Provide low interest loans to encourage rehabilitation of existing housing - Build more low- and middle-income h ousing in the neighborhood - Institute tax breaks for employers who relocate in the neighborhood	- Expand affordable childcare - Expand computer access for residents through local community organizations - Provide loans to support small business development - Clear land for new business - Improve the public transportation system	- What is the rate of unemployment for the neighborhood? - What percentage of high school freshmen graduate high school or obtain a GED? - What percentage of high school students receive further education?

 

Tool 1: Problem analysis sheet

The following page gives you room to analyze the problem or issue you want your group to address. This information can then be used to help you set goals and objectives.

What factors put people at risk for (or protect them against) the problem or concern?
Whose behavior (or lack of behavior) caused the problem?
Whose behavior (or lack of behavior) maintains the problem?
For whom is the situation a problem?
What are the negative consequences for those directly affected?
What are the negative consequences for the community?
Who, if anyone, benefits from things being the way they are now?
How do they benefit?
Who should share the responsibility for solving the problem?
What behaviors need to change to consider the problem "solved"?
What conditions need to change to address the issue or problem?
How much change is necessary?
At what level(s) should the problem be addressed?
Will you be able to make changes at the level(s) identified?

Tool 2: Components and Elements Background Table

Use this table to look holistically at the intervention you will develop.

	Providing Information and Skills Training	Enhancing Support
Problem/Issue to be Addressed
Risk/Protective Factors
Targets of Change
Agents of Change
Components
Elements
Mode/Context of Delivery

 Tool 3: Table of Components and Elements

	Providing Information and Skills Training	Enhancing Support and Resources	Modifying Opportunities and Barriers	Monitoring and Feedback
Components
Elements

Tool 4: Determining if interventions done by others are appropriate for your purpose and situation

Use this table to help you determine if a particular intervention you know about is right for your purpose and situation.

What is the intervention?
Is it appropriate for our purpose?
Is it effective?
Is it replaceable?
Is it simple?
Is it practical?
Is it compatible with our situation?
Additional domments:

 

A PowerPoint presentation summarizing the major points in the section.

• What is a participatory approach to planning?

• What are the advantages of a participatory planning approach?

• What are the disadvantages of a participatory planning approach?

• What are the levels of participatory planning?

• When is participatory planning appropriate?

• When is participatory planning not appropriate?

• Who should be involved in a participatory planning process?

• What do you have to do to get a participatory planning process up and running?

 

 

Everyone who's ever worked in health or human services knows at least one horror story about an intervention that either went wrong or never worked for a minute. Often, when the story is told, it becomes clear that the well-intentioned professionals in charge had totally misunderstood or ignored some fundamental fact about the community or the target population. Since they assumed they knew what was needed, they planned the whole thing themselves...and failed miserably.

For every horror story, however, there's a story about an intervention where everything went right. In many of these cases, you'll find that the target population - and often the larger community as well - was included in the planning of the intervention from the beginning.

When an organization decides to take on a community intervention - whether a full -fledged service program or a one-time campaign to accomplish one specific goal - it can often increase its chance of success by using a participatory planning process. In this section, we'll explore what a participatory planning process is, why it's valuable, its potential advantages and disadvantages, and how to use it to plan an effective intervention - one where everything goes right.

What is a participatory approach to planning?

In its simplest terms, a participatory approach is one in which everyone who has a stake in the intervention has a voice, either in person or by representation. Staff of the organization that will run it, members of the target population, community officials, interested citizens, and people from involved agencies, schools, and other institutions all should be invited to the table. Everyone's participation should be welcomed and respected, and the process shouldn't be dominated by any individual or group, or by a single point of view.

That's the ideal. The reality may often be quite different. Some people might not want to be involved - they may feel it takes too much time, or they don't have the skills needed. Particular individuals or groups may feel left out and disrespected if they're not invited to participate. The planning process may be a rubber stamp for ideas that have already been developed. Some people's opinions may be listened to more carefully than those of others. In some of these situations, a participatory process can cause as many problems as never involving people at all.

The important thing to remember here is the word participatory. The use of that term implies not just that you'll ask for someone's opinion before you do what you were going to do anyway, but rather that each participant becomes an important contributor to the planning process.

A true participatory approach is one in which everyone's perspective is considered. That doesn't mean that people can't challenge others' assumptions, or argue about what the best strategy might be. It does mean, however, that everyone's thoughts are respected, and it isn't necessarily assumed that the professionals or the well -educated automatically know what's best. Everyone actually gets to participate in the planning process, and has some role in decision-making.

This is an extremely important point. Many low-income or minority individuals and groups feel that they have no voice in the society, that they are not listened to even when they are asked for their opinions. True participation means that everyone has a voice which must be acknowledged.

Acknowledgment also implies having enough respect for another's opinion to argue with it. All too often, low-income or minority members of a planning team or governing board are treated with reverse condescension, as if anything they say must be true and profound. A truly participatory process would include not only everyone being heard, but also everyone thrashing out ideas and goals, and wrestling with new concepts.

In order for this to happen, those with less education and "status" often need extra support, both to learn the process and to believe that their opinions and ideas are important and worth stating. All of this takes time, but the rewards are great.

What are the advantages of a participatory planning approach?

• Participation carries with it feelings of ownership, and builds a strong base for the intervention in the community. If people are integral to the planning of a community intervention, then that intervention will be theirs. They have a stake in it not only as its beneficiaries or staff or sponsors, but as its originators. They'll do what they can to see their work succeed.
• It ensures that the intervention will have more credibility in all segments of the community because it was planned by a group representing all segments of the community. If people know that others with the same point of view and experience as theirs were instrumental in making the intervention happen, they'll assume that their interests were attended to.
• Bringing a broader range of people to the planning process provides access to a broader range of perspectives and ideas.
• A participatory planning approach avoids pitfalls caused by ignorance of the realities of the community or the target population. If, for instance, Muslims are part of the planning process for an intervention in a community which includes many followers of Islam, they'll know that lunch meetings during Ramadan, the Islamic month of daytime fasting, are not likely to work. Long-time community members will know what has failed in the past, and why, and can keep the group from repeating past mistakes.
• It involves important players from the outset. If the intervention needs the support of a particular individual, or that of a particular agency or group, and they've been part of the planning from the beginning, their cooperation is assured.
• It can provide an opportunity for often-disenfranchised groups to be heard, and teach the community that they have important things to say.
• It teaches skills which last far beyond the planning process, and can help to improve the community over the long term. People learn to run meetings, to analyze data, to construct strategic plans - in short, to become community resources and leaders.
• It can bring together and establish ties among community members who might normally have no contact. Such relationships - between low-income people and business leaders, for instance - are not only supportive of the intervention, but may help to create long-term relationships and break down barriers in the community.
• A participatory planning process builds trust, both between your organization and the community and among the individuals involved. This trust can serve as a foundation for future community development and community action.
• A participatory planning process generally reflects the mission and goals of grass roots and community-based organizations. With its underpinnings of collaboration, inclusiveness, and empowerment, a participatory approach embodies the ideals that form the foundations of most grass roots and community-based organizations.
• It implies respect for everyone in the community, and thus sets a standard for community participation and empowerment that other organizations - and the community at large - may feel compelled to follow.
• Logically, a participatory planning approach should be effective. The fact that it includes the views and perspectives of everyone affected by the intervention should work to assure that all assets and needs are identified and addressed, and that unintended consequences are minimized.
• Finally, it does things the way they should be done. It respects everyone's intelligence, values everyone's ideas and experience, and affords everyone a measure of control. By empowering the community, and particularly the target population, rather than just superimposing its own ideas on a social structure that already exists, your organization can give substance to its ideals. In the final analysis, some level of participatory approach is almost always the most ethical way to plan a community intervention.

What are the disadvantages of a participatory planning approach?

It's crucial to understand and anticipate these considerations, and to decide when and how a participatory planning approach can work in your situation.

• A participatory process takes longer. A diverse group always takes longer to make decisions and come to conclusions than does an individual or small group.
• Members of the target population or the community may not agree with the "experts " about what is needed.
• Education may be needed, for community members and the organization. Members of the target population and the community may not have important technical knowledge or experience, and may need to understand some theory or past practice in order to see what the organization is trying to do. Some may need new skills in order to participate fully in the planning process. The organization, on the other hand, may need to learn more about local culture, political issues, and community history in order to tailor the intervention to the community and avoid past errors. Education takes time.
• One determined individual can wreck the whole process if he's not handled well. Someone who has a particular axe to grind, or who's convinced that only he knows what's right for the community can make a participatory process very difficult. Handling this situation can take both tact and toughness.
• It may be difficult to assure that all the right people get to the table. Some key people may simply not want to participate. Factions in the community, a history of failed attempts at communication or at dealing with problems, ignorance of which groups or individuals are important, or just basic mistrust may complicate the task of creating a participatory planning process. Overcoming this barrier, however, can have profound positive consequences in the community over the long term.
• A participatory planning process takes patience and commitment on everyone's part. People have to maintain their commitment over time, remain civil while discussing issues about which they may have strong feelings, and be willing to compromise. A few misplaced words, or one or a small number of key people losing interest can upset the whole process.

While these disadvantages present potential or real challenges to the success of a participatory planning process, overcoming them may tremendously increase the possibility of designing and carrying out an effective community intervention.

What are the levels of participatory planning?

There are a number of ways to consider participatory planning. As demonstrated in the discussion above of advantages and disadvantages, this kind of process always presents, even at best, a trade-off between efficiency and inclusiveness. Time pressure, the needs of the community, the skills and experience of those participating, and the nature of the intervention, among other factors, all help to dictate the actual shape of the planning process.

So what are the possibilities? Just how participatory do you want to be? David Wilcox, in his excellent "Guide to Effective Participation," sets out the following as a model of the different possible levels of participation:

• Information - The least you can do is tell people what is planned.
• Consultation - You offer a number of options and listen to the feedback you get.
• Deciding together - You encourage others to provide some additional ideas and options, and join in deciding the best way forward.
• Acting together - Not only do different interests decide together what is best, but they form a partnership to carry it out.
• Supporting independent community initiatives - You help others do what they want - perhaps within a framework of grants, advice and support provided by the resource holder.

Each of these levels may be appropriate in different circumstances, or with different groups, although only at "deciding together" and above do they really begin to be fully participatory in the sense that the term is used in this section.

When is participatory planning appropriate?

Information-only may be appropriate when:

• The course of action has already been decided - by a funder, for instance
• You're simply reporting on something that's already in progress
• You're keeping people informed so that they'll have the information to be part of a participatory effort later

Consultation-only may be appropriate when:

• You want to evaluate or improve existing services
• There are limited options, and you're trying to choose among them
• There are technical reasons - again, perhaps because of a funder - why only certain people or groups can be officially involved in the planning process

But remember, if you consult with people in the community, you have to pay attention to what they tell you. If you're simply going to ignore their ideas and recommendations, you shouldn't consult at all. Being asked for an opinion and then ignored is much more insulting and infuriating than never being asked in the first place. At the very least, people deserve an explanation of why their advice isn't being followed.

Deciding together may be appropriate when:

• It's important that everyone feel ownership of the plan
• You want fresh ideas from as many sources as possible
• You can pull in people whom the intervention will directly affect
• There's a commitment to provide support through the process for those who need it
• There's enough time

In reality, as mentioned earlier, a planning process often is time-limited by proposal deadlines, the severity of the need (if teenagers are dying every day by gunfire, a violence prevention program needs to get under way quickly), the requirements of other partners or funders, etc. The trick is to balance participation and time restraints, and to try to use the highest level of participation possible under the circumstances.

Acting together may be appropriate when:

• The intervention will be more effective than if it were run by a single entity
• There is a funder's requirement for community oversight
• There is commitment to the development of a real partnership
• Everyone benefits from acting together
• One goal of the intervention is the eventual assumption of leadership or the learning of leadership skills by the target population and/or others in the community

The word "partnership" implies a relationship of equals, where everyone has an equal voice, and where power and responsibility are equally shared. Forming such a relationship, even in circumstances where everyone truly desires it, is not a quick or easy task. It takes time, commitment both to the process and the end product (the partnership), and the willingness to air and work through disagreements and philosophical differences. If you're not willing to give yourself to the development of a real partnership, acting together may be only a future goal for your organization and its community.

Supporting local initiatives may be appropriate when:

• There is a commitment to community empowerment
• The community has the desire and at least some of the tools to start and run a successful intervention
• There is a commitment to provide training and support where needed
• Your organization can only provide support, or can only run an intervention for a short time

As you try to determine what level of participation is right for your situation, consider this: A participatory planning process has the potential to become a charade meant only to convince the community that a participatory process is going on.

An adult educator related a conversation with his father-in-law, who worked in a factory of one of the big Detroit automakers. The company had initiated Total Quality Management, and had reorganized the factory workers into teams. Each team included workers from each step in the car manufacturing process, and was meant to be responsible for the building of a whole car from start to finish. Furthermore, each team was supposed to be able to change its procedures to make them more efficient or easier, and thus to improve production through the knowledge and skill of team members.

Knowing that his father-in-law was a longtime union activist and socialist, the younger man said, "That must be great. The workers actually have some control over production." The father-in-law, however, quickly burst the bubble. "No, it's the same as it was before, except now they make us sit in meetings and tell them what we think before they ignore us. Nothing has changed. They're just going through the motions, so they can tell the public they're doing something different."

When is participatory planning not appropriate?

There are also some general guidelines for when a participatory planning process may not be appropriate at all, including:

• A grant may have to be written immediately, for instance, or a situation - youth violence, perhaps - may have reached such crisis proportions that it must be addressed immediately. In such a circumstance, it may be possible to do some participatory planning after the fact, either to adjust the intervention before it begins, or to plan its next phase.
• When a community is so brutally divided, it's impossible to get all - or even any - of the rival factions to the same table.
• When there's no way to provide proper support - facilitation, structure, etc. - for the process.
• When the target population is simply not interested in participating, and just wants the organization to take care of it. One goal may be to get them interested, but that may have to be part of the intervention, rather than part of the planning process.
• When the intervention rests on technical knowledge of a kind that the target population and community members simply don't have.
• When involving all or most stakeholders simply isn't logistically possible, because of distance, time, or other issues.
• When funding constraints or funders' regulations don't allow it.
• When there is no trust between your organization and the community. This may be because the organization is new and unproven, or because of past history. In the latter circumstance, it is important to reestablish trust, but it may not be possible to do this before the intervention needs to be planned.

Who should be involved in a participatory planning process?

The ideal answer here is everyone who is affected by the proposed intervention, but that's seldom possible, or even desirable. You may be talking about thousands of people, too many for an effective planning process. In reality, there should be strong and effective representation for everyone involved, including:

Targets of Change

Targets of change are the people at whom the intervention is aimed or whom it is intended to benefit. That could be very specific (e.g. teen mothers, for a job training program aimed at teen parents) or very general (the community as a whole, for a smoking prevention and cessation initiative aimed at everyone in the community).

There are really two groups to be considered here:

• Members of the target community, both those on whom the intervention is specifically focused, and others who share their culture, age, language, or other characteristics.
• People whom the target community sees as significant opinion makers. They may be members of the target population itself, or outsiders - clergy, advisors, former community members who now move in circles of power, politicians, etc. - whom people in the target community trust and rely on.

Agents of Change

Agents of change are the people who make or influence policy or public opinion. These include actual policy makers, but also encompass people influential in the community at large, who can help or block an intervention by their support or opposition.

Policy makers

• Local elected or appointed officials
• State or federal elected or appointed officials who have influence in the community or over the issue at which the intervention is aimed.

If elected officials agree to be involved in your planning, they'll often send aides to represent them. This can be preferable to the officials themselves attending, since the aides often have a great deal of influence over their bosses, and are also more likely to have the time to participate fully.

• Local public agency heads (welfare, e.g.) who actually administer policy in the community. If they're involved from the beginning, they may be able to bend rules or otherwise alter their procedures to smooth the way for the intervention.
• Local university professors or researchers who are viewed as experts on the issue in question.

Influential people in the community

• Members of the business community. There are a number of good reasons to try to involve the business community: They tend to be practical, often a helpful trait. They also tend to be conservative, so that if they support the effort, their credibility - and, as a result, that of the intervention itself - may be high among other conservative elements in the community. They are often directly affected by such issues as illiteracy, employee health, insurance, the environment, etc., and so may be quick to see the need for an intervention. Last but not least, they often have access to money, which may be important to sustaining the intervention over time.
• Clergy and the faith community. In many communities, clergy wield great influence, and many see involvement in community issues as part of their spiritual mission. Faith-based groups, because of their cohesiveness, their sense of purpose, and their moral standing, can be powerful forces in a community.
• Natural leaders, those whom others respect and listen to.
• The media, or others who have a public platform.
• Directors or staff of other organizations affected by the problem or issue. Many of these people may be highly respected or well known in the community.

A community intervention may involve a number of organizations, public agencies and services, and other groups. A community initiative to offer treatment to substance abusers, for instance, could involve, among others:

• Schools
• Police
• Local hospitals, clinics, and health maintenance organizations
• Services for youth
• Mental health centers
• Private therapists
• Employers
• United Way

Interested members of the community

These might include parents, youth, or school personnel, for instance, for an intervention dealing with youth. Many seniors have the time, the desire, and the experience to be excellent community volunteers. People with a personal or professional interest in the issue may also want to participate - parents whose children have had drug problems, graduate students, retired teachers or doctors.

Members of the organization itself

Administrators and line staff, volunteers, current participants, board members, and supporters.

What do you need to do to get a participatory planning process up and running?

Recruit stakeholders

The obvious first step toward starting a participatory planning process is finding people to participate. Some of that relies simply on networking and old-fashioned legwork, but there's a logical process that accompanies it as well.

Identify the stakeholders

How do you define stakeholders? The list of possible participants earlier in this section is one place to start. Your intervention may not need all, or even many of these groups or individuals. To determine who should participate, the best question to ask is "Who will be directly affected by this intervention?"

Answers here will vary greatly, depending upon the nature of the intervention. If the taxpayers will be asked to pay for it directly - through property taxes, for instance, as they would be for many school programs - then both community officials and ordinary taxpayers should have some voice in it. If the police or other community employees are to be asked to take on extra duties or to cooperate in specific ways to make the intervention work, they should be included in the planning.

These should always include, at the very least, members of the organization's staff and Board and the target population. In general, it also makes sense to include members of the community, especially if:

• The intervention needs community support or participation in order to succeed
• The intervention will affect the community as a whole
• The community is being asked to change in some way - its attitudes, behavior, assumptions, bylaws, etc.

Even if the community is not a specific stakeholder, it may make sense to involve community members in a planning process. Every intervention needs some level of community support in order to succeed. Community participation in planning will help to assure that support.

Get the word out

If your process is meant to be as inclusive as possible, then you should be using as many avenues as possible to inform the community about it - press releases, newspaper stories, fliers, posters, and public service announcements (PSA's) on radio and television, as well as community presentations, personal contact (either face-to-face or by phone), mailings, etc. If you're trying to inform only specific groups in the community, start with people in those groups you already know. They'll help to spread the word to their friends and acquaintances, who'll pass it on further still. They can also help you decide where to place other information so the target groups will be likely to encounter it.

Be sure that your message is simple and clear, and in the languages that the community speaks. That means both using plain, understandable English, and using other languages spoken by people in the community. Your message may need to be in both English and Spanish, for instance, or in a number of languages, in order to reach everyone.

Be sure also that your message appears in places where it will be seen or heard by those it's aimed at. Supermarkets, laundromats, cafes, minority-language radio and TV stations, particular agencies, etc. may be good places to post your message.

Convene the planning process

Choose someone to convene the process

Regardless of what happens afterwards, someone needs to call people together and run a first meeting. If that person is identified with a particular group, then that group will probably be seen as in charge of the planning process. Depending upon the community, it could be important to think carefully about who should be in that position.

Sometimes it is best to find someone from outside the group - often an elected official or other respected figure - to run a first meeting. This type of choice both lends credibility to the intervention, and identifies it as a community effort, rather than that of a particular organization.

In a situation where a diverse core group has initiated the process, it may make sense for that group to convene a first meeting. The group's chair might then be the convener. In other cases - particularly where the organization will need a large amount of community support to make it work - it may make sense to present the intervention as the project of your organization. In those situations, a Board chair or director would be the logical choice to convene the planning process.

Hold an initial meeting

An initial meeting might be open to a very large number of people (the whole community, or all of the target population, for instance) or to a smaller group (one representative from each of several agencies and organizations, a few selected members of the target group, etc.). The time, place, and tone of this meeting are all important in making sure that people will be willing to participate in it and in the process that follows. Some things you can do to help make it successful:

• Before the meeting, try to personally invite as many people as possible. People are much more likely to come if they know someone cares about their being there.
• Plan meeting times around the convenience of those attending, rather than the convenience of the organization. Evenings, weekends - even holding two or more meetings at different times - may make it possible for more people to participate.
• Hold the meeting in a place that's convenient and comfortable for everyone involved. If the community is divided into factions, choose a neutral place that everyone considers "safe." If there's no such problem, choose a place that's relatively easy to find and reach for everyone (on a bus line, plenty of parking, equally convenient to several neighborhoods, centrally located in a rural area, etc.)
• Provide some food and drink. The presence of food reduces formality and makes things more comfortable.
• Consider carefully who'll run the meeting. This choice may dictate how many people are willing to get involved in the process.
• If the community is multilingual, make sure to have translators present, or to present everything in multiple languages, so that everyone feels included.
• Plan activities so that everyone at the meeting has a chance to be heard, either in the larger group or in a smaller one. You asked people there to participate in a planning process: they should see from the very beginning that you were serious about that, and that their ideas will be taken seriously.
• By the end of the meeting, there should be a clear next step, and everyone should know what it is. Nothing can sidetrack a participatory planning process more quickly than generating enthusiasm and leaving it with no place to go.

A large meeting is not always the best way to convene a process. In some communities, or with some groups, several smaller meetings, or meetings with one or two or three individuals may be the way to start. A large meeting may be intimidating to particular individuals or groups: they may not attend, or they may be unwilling to speak if they do attend. As with any process, it's important to start where the participants feel comfortable, and to work from there.

Maintain the planning process

Once the planning process has started, it has to be maintained. Participants have to continue to be interested, support has to be provided when it's needed, conflicts have to be resolved, methods have to be devised to keep the process reasonably efficient, goals and deadlines have to be set, etc.

Choose someone to guide the planning process

Someone - realistically, it's usually the director or another administrator of the organization that will conduct the intervention, but it could be a Board chair, an outside facilitator, or a community member - has to monitor what's happening and make sure that nothing derails the planning. Finding the right person to fill this role is extremely important. He has to be able to communicate well with everyone involved, to see the big picture as well as the details, and to deal gracefully with both interpersonal and logistical problems. (That's why an outside facilitator is sometimes a good investment.)

Do you need an outside facilitator? In a situation where divisions are deep, or where no one available has the needed skills to keep the planning process on track, there may be a need for a neutral and experienced facilitator. A facilitator with no personal stake in the process or the community may be able to see - and defuse - the dynamics among the groups involved in the process. Her skills may be needed to handle that difficult individual referred to earlier, or to help different racial groups overcome their mutual suspicion. She may also be able to make what is by nature a sloppy process more efficient and effective.

Whether your planning will need an outside facilitator or not depends largely on the character of your community and the character of the relationships among its different elements. A good facilitator generally doesn't come cheap, so if you need one, you'll have to decide whether you can afford to hire her. But you'll also have to decide whether you can afford not to hire them, if you want to plan an intervention that works.

Decide who will issue final approval on a plan

If, as is often the case, the actual planning is done by a relatively small group, there is usually a mechanism to have the plan approved by some larger or governing body.

This body might take one of several forms:

• A meeting of all stakeholders
• A diverse group chosen to oversee the intervention
• A community meeting
• The Board of the organization
• A very small group - the director and Board chair, for instance, or even just one of them

Determine how long the planning process will go on

The planning you want to do might be for a single initiative or campaign, or might encompass years of collaboration on working with a large and diverse population. If the planning group is meant to continue, either to furnish oversight of the final plan, or to keep developing and changing the intervention as circumstances and the community's needs change, an ongoing participatory approach may be even more important to the intervention's success.

How well you maintain the process once it's begun is just as important to its success as how well you start it. Remember that the planning process itself is only a beginning.

In Summary

A participatory planning process - one in which all the stakeholders are involved - is often the most effective and inclusive way to plan a community intervention. A participatory process provides community ownership and support of the intervention; information about community history, politics, and past mistakes; and respect and a voice for everyone. It also takes time, care, mutual respect, and commitment.

In order to conduct such a process well, you have to carefully consider what level of participation is most appropriate under the circumstances. You also must identify the stakeholders, and make sure they all get to the table, using communication techniques designed to reach them.

Care must be taken in getting the process under way. The person and methods chosen to convene it can both send messages about your intentions, and have a great effect on which and how many participants you attract.

Finally, the process must be maintained over time, so that momentum will not be lost. If you can manage a planning process that meets all these requirements, the chances are that you will come up with a successful community intervention, one that truly works and meets the community's needs.

What is a participatory planning approach?

___You know that a participatory planning approach means that all stakeholders' voices are heard and respected, and that everyone has some role in decision-making.

What are the advantages of a participatory planning approach?

___Participation carries with it feelings of ownership, and builds a strong base for the intervention in the community

___It ensures that the intervention will have more credibility in all segments of the community because it was planned by a group representing all segments of the community

___It brings a broader range of people to the planning process provides access to a broader range of perspectives and ideas

___Avoids pitfalls caused by ignorance of the realities of the community or the target population

___It involves important players from the outset

___It can provide an opportunity for often-disenfranchised groups to be heard

___It teaches skills which last far beyond the planning process,and can help to improve the community over the long term

___It can bring together and establish ties among community members who might normally have no contact

___It builds trust, both between your organization and the community and among the individuals involved

___It generally reflects the mission and goals of grass roots and community-based organizations

___It implies respect for everyone in the community

___It is generally effective

___It does things the way they should be done

What are the disadvantages of a participatory planning approach?

___A participatory process takes longer

___Members of the target population or the community may not agree with the "experts " about what is needed

___Lots of education may be needed, both for community members and the organization

___One determined individual can wreck the whole process if he's not handled well

___It may be difficult to assure that all the right people get to the table

___A participatory planning process takes patience and commitment on everyone's part

What are the levels of participatory planning?

___Information

___Consultation

___Deciding together

___Acting together

___Supporting local initiatives

When is participatory planning appropriate?

___Information-only may be appropriate when:

• The course of action has already been decided - by a funder, for instance
• You're simply reporting on something that's already in progress
• You're keeping people informed so that they'll have the information to be part of a participatory effort later

___Consultation-only may be appropriate when:

• You want to evaluate or improve existing services
• There are limited options, and you're trying to choose among them
• There are technical reasons - again, perhaps because of a funder - why only certain people or groups can be officially involved in the planning process

___Acting together may be appropriate when:

• The intervention will be more effective than if it were run by a single entity
• There is a funder's requirement for community oversight
• There is commitment to the development of a real partnership
• Everyone benefits from acting together
• One goal of the intervention is the eventual assumption of leadership or the learning of leadership skills by the target population and/or others in the community

___Supporting local initiatives may be appropriate when:

• There is a commitment to community empowerment.
• The community has the desire and at least some of the tools to start and run a successful intervention.
• There is a commitment to provide training and support where needed.
• Your organization can only provide support, or can only run an intervention for a short time.

When isn't participatory planning appropriate?

___When there's simply no time

___When a community is so brutally divided, it's impossible to get all - or even any - of the rival factions to the same table

___When there's no way to provide proper support - facilitation, structure, etc. - for the process

___When the target population is simply not interested in participating, and just wants the organization to take care of it

___When the intervention rests on technical knowledge of a kind that the target population and community members simply don't have

___When involving all or most stakeholders simply isn't logistically possible, because of distance, time, or other issues

___When funding constraints or funders' regulations don't allow it

___When there is no trust between your organization and the community

Who should be involved in a participatory planning process?

___Targets of change

• Members of the target community
• People whom the target community sees as significant opinion makers

___Agents of change

• Policy makers
• Influential people in the community

___Interested members of the community at large

___Members of the organization itself

What do you have to do to get a participatory planning process up and running?

___You've identified all the individuals and groups who need to be involved

___You've gotten the message about the planning process out to everyone who needs to be informed

___You've chosen someone to convene the process

___You've held an initial meeting, for which:

• You've personally invited as many people as possible
• You've planned meeting times around the convenience of those attending, rather than the convenience of the organization
• You've held the meeting in a place that's convenient and comfortable for everyone involved
• You've provided some food and drink
• You've considered carefully who'll run the meeting
• If the community is multilingual, you've made sure to have translators present, or to present everything in multiple languages, so that everyone feels included
• You've planned activities so that everyone at the meeting has a chance to be heard, either in the larger group or in a smaller one
• By the end of the meeting, there was a clear next step, and everyone knew what it was

___You've chosen someone to guide the planning process

___You've decided who will approve a final plan

___You've decided how long the planning process will go on

Example: Participatory Planning in The Literacy Project

In 1995, the Massachusetts Department of Education offered a three-year grant to communities to try to reach and serve the families of children aged three and under. Their idea was that, by providing services to families and children at risk, communities might be able to head off some of the problems these children might have later, when they got to school. The Request for Proposals (RFP) had a number of requirements, a major one being an oversight board that included people from all elements of the community that might be involved with families - schools and day care providers, hospitals and other health agencies, human service providers, parents, municipal government, etc.

The largely rural western Massachusetts county of Hampshire also contains several colleges and the main campus of the state university. At the urging of its Human Service Coordinator, Hampshire County decided to apply as a county, and got permission to do so. This decision made the application process much more complicated, because the Director and the agency convening the process had to contact and involve the appropriate people from 20 or so towns scattered over several hundred square miles.

Less than 10 days after the RFP came out, I, as director of an adult literacy program that operated in Hampshire County, sat at a meeting with several school principals and counselors; three doctors; two hospital administrators; three parents; the directors of a day care center, a mental health agency, a battered women's shelter, an agency that operated homeless shelters, a pregnant-and-parenting teen program, an information and referral service, and an anti-poverty agency; and representatives from the Department of Social Services, the county welfare office, the Office for Children, the  Department of Developmental Services (DDS), and other state and local agencies; as well as the County Human Services Coordinator.

We spent two long but productive meetings thinking through and planning the grant proposal, which was then written by an administrator at the anti-poverty agency. Using ideas from nearly everyone in the group, the proposal, rather than concentrating on a specific program, envisioned an intervention that encompassed supporting parents in whatever ways they needed. It created a safety net for parents and children that stretched across the whole county, and included both specific and general services and activities. In short, it was an intervention designed for a whole county, rather than a single community, and one that recognized that the needs of parents in that county were varied and constantly changing.

Much to everyone's surprise, our proposal was one of only a small number funded across the state. Ours was the only proposal that aimed at more than a single community, but it had county-wide support, and everyone was committed to making it work. The group that had been assembled to write the proposal agreed to stay together and serve as the oversight board, and the information and referral center housed the program 's coordinator and served as a clearinghouse for issues related to the grant.

The grant program worked on two levels. On one level, it ran activities and programs in different areas of the county - often tied into the already-existing work of county agencies, schools, hospitals, and the like - geared to the needs of families with kids three and under. Some of the grant money was used for outreach to families, particularly those often underserved, to encourage their attendance. Activities and programs included a semi-annual vaccination celebration (a fair with clowns, refreshments, and entertainment at which kids could get both vaccinated and face-painted), and pre- and postnatal parenting classes at one of the hospitals.

The larger part of the grant, however, was directed toward meeting needs expressed directly by parents and providers, and toward creating and maintaining a flexible network of integrated services and support for families that could be activated when a need or a problem arose. A small amount of the grant was used, for instance, to run a "taxi service" of volunteer drivers who helped parents without transportation (remember, this is a rural area, where the nearest store or population center can be ten or more miles away) to get to appointments with the pediatrician or welfare office, to do shopping, or to pick up children from day care.

The board met officially four times a year, and small groups of it met far more often to work out the details of specific new or ongoing activities. More important, the organizations involved worked together far more and in a far more focused way to meet the needs of mutual participants, and to try to narrow in on issues pertaining to young children and their families.

A good example of how the grant worked at its best took place in my own adult literacy program. At one of the Hampshire County sites, a female learner had just had a baby, whom she often brought to class. The instructor, himself the father of two young children, was very concerned about the well-being of the child, who was being fed solids at two months, and who was often ignored for long periods of time. Ultimately, the instructor decided he had to intervene.

He had a conference with the mother, at which he explained that he was concerned for the child, and that he wanted her to get help if she was to continue to participate in the literacy program. Rather than simply leaving her on her own to find assistance, however, he was able to put her directly in touch with a pediatrician, a parenting program, WIC (child nutrition), transportation assistance, and other help, all of which he had arranged through connections set up by the grant. He accompanied her to some of the initial meetings, and "handed her off" to specific individuals who, he knew, would establish relationships with her and help her through the process of learning to take better care of herself and her child.

Far from being resentful, the woman welcomed the help, and the instructor almost immediately noticed a marked improvement in the way she dealt with her infant. Furthermore, both mother and child were now getting basic services - regular medical checkups, help with proper nutrition - that would go toward keeping them healthy over the long term. The lives of that mother and baby were, in some sense, saved by the safety net the grant had set in place. And the flexibility of that net had been made possible by the participatory planning process that had generated the original grant proposal.

The Department of Education had been profoundly dubious when Hampshire County had submitted a county-wide proposal, and had funded it, at least in part, just to see what would happen. The Hampshire County program was, in fact, one of the most successful in the state. The participation in the grant was real and ongoing, and - perhaps even more important - ultimately involved the people most concerned with the issue.

Although I continued, as director of my program to attend board meetings, I also made sure that the instructors who ran the Hampshire County sites of our program were involved, and that their voices were heard in planning and committee sessions. Other program directors did the same, so that by the time I left my program, two or three years later, most of the work of the grant program was being accomplished by community members and by the line staff of the organizations involved, rather than by administrators.

A PowerPoint presentation summarizing the major points in the section.

• What are targets and agents of change?

• Who are the people who experience or can help to improve the problem or issue (the targets of change)?

• Who can help with the improvement (the agents of change)?

• What do agents of change do?

• How to identify targets and agents of change

What are targets and agents of change?

When doing work in your community, the first thing to decide is what is the issue or problem you want to address. Whether you are teaching kids to read or trying to create safer neighborhoods, it's your group's reason for being; it's what you're all about.

You and your organization are not alone. There are people out there who can benefit and people who can help. That is, there are people to whom your initiative has things to offer and people from whom you can learn and get assistance. We need to be clear about who should benefit--youth and parents, for example--and people who can help address the issue or problem--including youth, parents and guardians, teachers, service providers, and others. Knowing who these people are is an important step.

In this section, we'll help you decide who your organization or initiative is trying to reach -- targets of change -- and who can help you reach them -- agents of change. We'll also consider what it is that these "agents of change" can do, and how you can develop a plan to make sure you have found everyone who can benefit and everyone who can help, and not just the most obvious candidates.

Sounds simple, doesn't it? It is. It's just a question of being clear, complete, and making sure you look at every angle.

Who are the people who experience or can help the problem or issue (the targets of change)?

You're probably trying to change a certain behavior or outcome, such as reducing drug abuse or creating decent jobs. Sometimes, the particular behavior you are changing is clear; other times, the root cause of a given problem or issue is less obvious. Children falling asleep in class, for example, might actually be a direct result of their not having had breakfast, and isn't really a result of any problem in the school itself. Not having enough to eat, in turn, may have less to do with parental neglect, than with the family living in poverty due to inadequate job opportunities. We interview people who experience the problem to gain a better understanding of what conditions and behaviors contribute to the problem or issue.

Like finding the root problem, understanding who you want to target for change can be relatively simple or more difficult.

Generally, targets of change will fall into two categories:

• Those people who directly experience the problem or are at risk
• Those people who contribute to the problem through their actions or lack of actions

Deciding who is directly at risk is usually the easy part. If you are trying to increase immunization among inner city children under two years of age, for example, those children (and their parents or guardians and health providers) may be the targets of change. Intravenous drug users (the ones that use syringes) are among the key targets of an AIDS prevention effort, since they are at higher risk for contracting the AIDS virus.

Sometimes, however, the people at risk aren't the same ones you will target for change. It may be that because of some reason, such as age in the immunization example above, the people at risk are not the ones whose behavior you will try to change. Since children under two years of age can't immunize themselves, the targets of change include parents and guardians and health providers. In this case, your targets of change will be those people whose actions (or lack of actions) contribute to the problem.

Examples of these people include:

• Peers
• Parents and caregivers
• Service providers
• Teachers
• Business people and merchants (e.g., who sell tobacco, alcohol, or other drugs)
• Elected and appointed officials

As you work on an initiative, you will want to consider both categories, targets and agents of change. Sometimes, an initiative might be designed to work with both those people who experience or are at risk for the problem, as well as those whose actions (or lack of actions) contribute to the problem.

For example, a community initiative to improve public transportation might use:

• A media campaign to increase public awareness of transportation problems, targeting those who will benefit from better transportation
• A letter-writing campaign directed at public officials to influence resource allocations for improved transportation, targeting those whose lack of actions contribute to the problem

Who can help with the improvement (the agents of change)?

Next, you'll want to look at potential agents of change. Who can influence the people and the conditions that contribute to the problem or issue? These are the key individuals or groups who, if they put forth an effort, can help address the issues that matter to your community.

Sometimes, agents of change can be members of the same group as the targets of change you identified earlier. You might concentrate part of your "Healthy Eating" campaign on high school science and health teachers, for example, so that they, in turn, will pass on nutrition information to their students. In this instance, the teachers are the people whose behavior you are trying to change and also the people who can help make improvement happen. Similarly, gang members may be in a position to contribute to reductions in gang-related violence; peers, in a position to influence academic achievement of other youth; and people who have experienced trauma or loss, in a position to help others with similar experiences cope with the effects.

Remember that the success of the change agent is directly related to his or her effort in connecting with the targets. Ideally, people experiencing (or at risk for) the concern are deeply engaged as agents of change. Success happens when people get together, spend time together, care about each other, and are important parts of each other's efforts to make a difference. Teachers will be better agents of change if they have the support of parents, just as parents will be successful agents of change if their efforts are coupled with the efforts of teachers.

What do these agents of change do?

The agent of change can influence others in a variety of ways. If they are working with someone who is directly affected by the problem, they will probably do the following:

• Establish a strong relationship with the person most affected. If the target of change sees them as someone credible, trustworthy, and caring, he or she is much more likely to confide in the agent of change, and listen to his or her advice.
• Diagnose the issue or problem. In the classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus Finch tells his young daughter she must walk around in other people's shoes if she really wants to understand them. A good agent of change does the same thing. To help someone change unsafe or harmful behavior, she needs to really understand why that behavior is happening.
• Convince the person experiencing the issue of the need for (and of the possibility of) a change. The change agent might be responsible for convincing someone that her behavior is a problem, that alternatives exist, and that things really can change. A surrogate "big sister" might convince her "little sister" of the importance of school, and of what her opportunities might be if she finishes. She could continue after high school and convince her "little sister" that she is plenty smart enough to get a college degree.
• Help make that change happen. It's one thing to say you are going to stop smoking. That's a very important first step. But ask any long-time smoker, and he'll tell you that there's a lot more to it than just that. Agents of change don't just convince someone of the need to do something, and then sit back and rest on their laurels. They need to get their hands dirty and support the person who wants to change. The agents can help plan and provide lots of support--both moral and tangible--to get the job done.
• Help maintain the change. For example, research shows that most dieters end up regaining the weight they have lost within a year. The person making the change will need a lot of support, especially at the beginning, to stick with what she has done. This is true whether someone is trying to go back to school, stay off drugs, or get started with a new job. When the person trying to change has run out of gas, the person supporting him should be there with the gas can.

How do you identify targets and agents of change?

So, the next question is: How can you identify everyone who can benefit and help? A first step is to answer the following questions. Just for your use, you might want to grab a piece of paper and scribble down your answers. Often times, the act of writing something works as a brainstorming technique, and you'll come up with more ideas than you thought possible! You might do this with other members of your group, and with other groups; the more help you get, the better your ideas will be.

• What is the problem or issue you are trying to address? What really causes it? As we mentioned above, you might want to interview people or do research to better understand the root causes. You might also want to try the "But why" technique. This method examines a problem by asking what caused it. Each time an answer is given, a follow up, "But why?" is asked.
• Who might resist the changes you want to make? This is probably information you will want to use later; but it might be helpful to have this information in hand from the beginning.

Now, you're ready to decide who your targets and agents of change really are. As you did before, write down and brainstorm answers to the following questions. When you're done, you can pick out the best answers and presto! Your list of targets and agents of change is complete.

For targets of change:

• Who is affected by the problem? Who is causing the problem? Think carefully here and go beyond the usual suspects. Don't stop with who is obviously experiencing the problem (e.g., children who fail in school, teachers), but think too about whose action (or inaction) is at the root of the problem. For example, parents who don't support their kids' work in school; elected officials who don't hold schools accountable; members of the general public who permit class sizes to be too large to learn in. Write down all of the answers that come up. You can always weed things out later.
• Who has been previously affected by the problem? Should they still be supported? For example, if you are running a immunization program for children under two, ask yourself if there are older children who never received vaccinations when they were babies who you can reach now.
• Who are the peers of those affected? If you are focusing on youth violence, for example, you might include all young people in your action plan, and not just those who have already been victims of (or committed) a violent act.

For agents of change:

• Who has the power to bring about change?
• Who has the time, resources, and desire to bring about change?
• Who might be able to make a difference if your initiative is able to convince them?
• Who has a relationship with the people in whom you want to bring about change? Who do the "targets of change" trust? Who will they listen to?
• Think about people who were formerly (or are currently) targets. They might be some of the best "agents of change" now. For example, a recovering drug user might be just the person who can really support a current user who is trying to stop; she can empathize with the difficulties of quitting, and won't be seen as looking down on the person with whom she's talking.

For both:

• Have you thought about people from all parts of your community? Are there different community sectors (e.g., churches and faith communities; schools; businesses) that might become involved?
• Who does your organization particularly want to target or work with? With whom do you think you can be particularly effective? What contacts do you have that you could use?

In Summary

Identifying targets and agents of change is an important step in your planning process. It helps put the work in context, and reminds you of your part in the greater whole. In doing this, you'll be sure that you are doing what you set out to do--and you're doing so for everyone who can benefit and contribute.

___You understand that targets of change are people who experience the problem or issue or are directly at risk and who contribute to the problem through their actions or inactions

___You understand that agents of change are those who can influence the people and conditions that contribute to the problem or issue

___You understand that targets and agents of change may be the same people

You know what agents of change do:

___They establish strong relationships with the people most affected

___They diagnose the issue or problem

___They convince the people experiencing the issue of the need for (and the possibility of) a change

___They help make that change happen

___They help maintain that change

You know how to identify targets and agents of change:

___You know the problem or issue you want to address

___You know who might resist the changes you want to make

For targets of change:

___You know who is affected by the problem

___You know who has previously been affected by the problem

___You know who the peers of those affected are

For agents of change:

___You know who has the power to bring about change

___You know who has the time, resources, and desire to bring about change

___You know who might be able to do it, if your organization can convince them

___You know who already has a relationship with your targets of change

___You have considered people who were (or are) targets

For both:

___You have thought about people from all parts of your community

___You have considered those your organization particularly wants to target or work with

Example: Targets and agents of change for child abuse prevention program

Below is a filled out example of a planning sheet that can be used to help determine the targets and agents of change for your initiative. In the Tools section, you'll find a blank copy you can print out and use for your organization.

What behaviors and conditions contribute to the issue or problem?	Who are the people who experience or contribute to the issue? (Targets of Change)	Who are the people who can contribute to improvement? (Agents of Change)
Poverty / economic stress Poor anger management skills Substance use Lack of parenting skills Family history of abuse	Parents and guardians Relatives	Teachers Ministers Neighbors Parents and Guardians Relatives Service providers

 

Tool: Planning Sheet

Fill out the following sheet as part of your planning process. You can use the information to decide who can benefit and contribute when you write or revise your action plan.

Planning Sheet: Connecting targets and agents of change

Community issue or problem: ____________________________________________________

What behaviors and conditions contribute to the issue or problem?	Who are the people who experience or contribute to the issue? (Targets of Change)	Who are the people who can contribute to improvement? (Agents of Change)

 

A PowerPoint presentation summarizing the major points in the section.

• What do we mean by community sectors?

• Who are the targets and agents of change?

• Why use community sectors to reach targets and agents of change?

• How do you use community sectors to reach targets and agents of change?

An outreach worker, hired to help establish an English as a Second or Other Language (ESOL) program in a community with a large Portuguese-speaking population, was having difficulty contacting potential students. Partially because of the language barrier and partially because he was an outsider, his efforts at outreach fell flat.  He knew he needed help.

The outreach worker decided to contact the people who ran the two major social centers in the community: the soccer club and the Catholic church. The director of the soccer club and the priest were both happy to see him, and acknowledged that there was a real need for ESOL services in the community. Both told him to schedule an informational  meeting – they’d see to it that there was an audience.

The priest described the ESOL program and its benefits from the pulpit on two successive Sundays, and urged people to attend the meeting.  Going a step further, the director of the soccer club approached numerous individuals who needed the service and issued a personal invitation to the meeting to each of them.  He also introduced the outreach worker at the soccer club, where he was able to describe the program and share a beer with many potential students.

By the time of the meeting, word had spread in the community, and the hall was packed. Over 40 people signed up for classes, and many promised to bring their friends as well.  When the classes began several weeks later, they were full from the beginning.

This story is true, and is a perfect example of using community sectors – in this case, the religious and the cultural/recreational – to reach the people you need to reach.  We'll briefly examine who targets and agents of change are and then explore how to reach those folks through the sectors of the community to which they listen or belong.

What do we mean by community sectors?

“Community sectors” can mean a number of different things.  In some cases, it describes broad categories – the public and private sectors, for example, referring respectively to those individuals and organizations that have to do with government in some way and those that don’t. Sometimes, the term “community sector” means community-based organizations, institutions, and initiatives, as opposed to those operated by state government, national or international groups, or large corporations.

In this section, when we refer to “community sectors,” we’re pointing at the various groups that people in the larger community might be divided into for reasons of common social, political, economic, cultural, or religious interests.  In some cases, membership in a sector may be conscious (business people as part of the “business sector,” for example.)  In others, people may not think about their membership (parents may not think of themselves as helping to make up the “education sector.”)  Many individuals may belong to, or have contact with, several of these sectors; others may be considered only in relation to a single one.

So what are these sectors?  We’d be hard pressed to name all the sectors that exist in all communities, but there are numerous categories that are common in most communities in the developed world, and in many communities in developing countries as well:

• Health. This includes medical and mental health professionals (doctors, nurses, psychologists and psychotherapists, physical therapists, etc.), pharmacists and pharmacies, hospitals and other in-patient facilities, clinics, non-traditional health practitioners (acupuncturists, chiropractors, massage therapists, etc.), and public health agencies and systems.
• Education. Public and private K-12 schools, public and private pre-schools, public and private colleges and universities, school committees, school administrators, teachers, other educational institution employees, parents, students, state boards of education, etc.This sector may (or may not, depending on the issue) include adult basic education (ABE) and English as Second or Other Language (ESOL) programs.
• Law enforcement.  The local and state police, the court system – judges, probation officers, prosecutors, court-appointed defense lawyers, court-mandated programs for offenders, etc.
• Government. Regional, provincial, state, local, and tribal government bureaucracies, agencies, and officials, both elected and appointed.
• Business. This sector can range from the self-employed carpenter or mom-and-pop grocery store to the multinational corporation with a local facility.
• Youth.  Youth themselves (in the U.S., generally viewed as ages 18 and younger) and those who work directly with them (youth violence prevention and outreach programs, Big Brother/Big Sister, Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs, scouting, etc.)  There may be overlap here with the education, parents, human service, culture, and sports/recreation sectors.
• Parents. Whether parents are viewed as a community sector or not may depend on the nature of the issue of concern. They’re certainly a sector in the case of community-wide efforts that benefit or otherwise affect children, but they may not be seen as a separate group when the issue is care for elders.
• The media. The media now includes not only newspapers and magazines, radio, and TV, but the vast array of blogs, videos, online news, and other material available on the Internet.
• Human services. This sector generally includes non-profit professional and volunteer organizations that provide free or affordable services such as job training, food, shelter, elder services, ABE/ESOL, services for individuals with physical or mental disabilities, support and advocacy for immigrants, etc.
• Religion. Places of worship and their members and religious organizations (e.g., Knights of Columbus, B’nai Brith) of all faiths. If the community is a large city, this sector may include the hierarchy of a national church as well (a Roman Catholic archbishop, for instance.)
• Service/fraternal organizations. The Lions, Masons, Rotary, Kiwanis, and other local and national or international service organizations. This sector might also encompass college fraternities/sororities or other local and national social clubs, as well as veterans’ organizations and the like.
• Community activist and volunteer groups. These might be aimed at political issues (engaged in advocacy for or against a particular action of government), supportive of existing institutions (“Friends of” the local park, a school playground volunteer corps), oriented toward economics (SCORE –Service Corps of Retired Executives – a group that volunteers to help non-profits and small business owners with financial and business plans), or more generally concerned with the quality of community life (e.g., block associations, organizers of community festivals.)
• Culture. The arts community comprises artists of all stripes – musicians, dancers and choreographers, writers, actors and directors, designers, visual artists – as well as arts organizations, theaters, orchestras, museums, galleries, and those who work as support staff in the arts – stagehands, cameramen, electricians, set builders, etc. It also includes regular consumers and supporters of the arts.
• Housing and development. In this sector, we find both public and private non-profit housing agencies and organizations that provide rent subsidies and/or affordable housing, as well as developers who build market-rate and upscale residential and commercial properties. The sector may thus include everyone from fair housing advocates to those who own and/or manage urban real estate worth billions of dollars.
• Sports and recreation. This sector might include sports clubs, town or county recreation departments, amateur and professional athletic associations, public and private sports and recreation facilities, the YMCA, gyms, coaches, personal trainers, recreation leaders, and camp directors, as well as those who participate in these groups as athletes, spectators, or supporters.
• The environment. Individual environmentalists; international, national, and local environmental organizations (e.g., Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, the Sierra Club, local preservation organizations); conservation land trusts; recreational hunters and fishermen, rock climbers and mountaineers, wildlife biologists and botanists, ecologists, hikers, canoers/kayakers, and other outdoorspeople; hydrologists (water specialists). This sector may also include those who make a living from a pristine or carefully-managed environment: producers of maple sugar, mushroomers, organic and tree farmers, wilderness guides, owners of hotels and B&Bs that cater to those who use – and are located in – wilderness areas.

A conservation land trust is an organization that buys land for preservation or conservation, and/or brokers deals to keep undeveloped land in a conservation restriction (where a landowner, either in return for payment or because he wants to keep the area as it is, agrees not to develop the land, and to put that restriction in the deed, so that the land can never be developed). Land trusts of this sort are usually community-based non-profit organizations supported by public contributions.

• Agriculture. This sector is usually confined to rural areas, and can involve anyone from shepherds and cowherders in developing countries to family farms to huge agribusiness farms and feedlots in the American Midwest and West. It might also include dairy farmers, cheesemakers, winemakers and vineyards, and food processors and packers. To some degree the agriculture sector includes all consumers of the food produced.

There can be, as we’ve discussed, a large amount of overlap among sectors. Furthermore, the list above is far from complete: a given community may have other sectors because of its specific nature. A community whose economy is almost entirely agricultural, for instance, may have a rice-growing sector, a dairy sector, a fruit-growing sector, etc. A diverse community may have a Hispanic sector, a Vietnamese sector, a Black sector, a Haitian sector, and a number of others defined by ethnicity and/or language.

Sectors exist because of the common characteristics and/or interests shared by their members. As a result, they can be used, as we’ll see, to reach potential targets and agents of change.

Who are the targets and agents of change?

Targets of change

Targets of change are either those whose behavior you want to change or who stand to benefit from the changes your effort aims to bring about. In the first category are both people who will directly benefit from changes in their behavior – smokers who quit, people with high blood pressure who change their diets and exercise patterns – and policy makers, employers, and others whose behavior changes can benefit others (by instituting better workplace safety rules, for example.) We might call these primary targets of change, because, in general, we’re trying to change their behavior directly.

In the second category of targets of change are folks who stand to benefit without necessarily changing their own behavior.  These might include low- and moderate-income families that are able to take advantage of affordable housing, or children whose education is improved by changes in curriculum or by new school facilities. They might be seen as secondary targets of change:  They are the ones who will benefit directly from the changes an effort is trying to bring about, but their own behavior doesn’t necessarily have to change for that to happen.

Some examples of primary targets of change:

• People with specific health conditions who can control some aspects of those conditions by changing habits or behavior – those with diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma, various kinds of chronic pain, or serious weight problems, for example.
• Consumers of unhealthy products.  Some of the products in question might include tobacco, alcohol, junk food, and products that contain dangerous chemicals.
• Substance abusers.
• Youth engaging in violence.
• People who are unemployed.
• People who need basic skills or instruction in the majority language.
• Prison inmates.
• People who are homeless, either temporarily or over the long term.
• In the developing world, farmers using unsustainable practices that leave them poorer – and hungrier – year by year.
• Polluters, both individuals and those in business and industry.
• Developers, who might create affordable housing, locate in particular areas of need, and build in environmentally friendly ways.

Developers can also be seen as secondary targets of change, if a goal of the effort is to change regulations so that incentives, regulations, or a combination of the two become available to convince them to engage in community-friendly practices.

• Legislators and other policy makers (school committees, boards of health, regulatory agencies, etc.) that have the power to change laws, policies, and regulations.  That power can alter patterns of discrimination, put healthy food in school lunches, offer incentives for full-service supermarkets to open branches in low-income neighborhoods, increase workplace safety and worker protection, improve education, foster public transportation, and otherwise improve the quality of life for both specific groups and the community as a whole.
• The media.  Often, convincing the media to take up a cause or to explain an issue to the public can be the most effective way to bring about change.

Some secondary targets of change:

• People in need of affordable housing
• Children in poorly-equipped, poorly-run schools (or without access to schools at all)
• Individuals or groups who are objects of social, economic, or political discrimination
• People with physical and mental disabilities
• Individuals or communities without sources of clean drinking water or sanitation
• Populations with little or no access to health care
• People who are hungry and/or malnourished
• People exposed to dangerous substances and/or ailing because of industrial or other pollution, badly designed buildings, or other causes
• Workers exposed to hazardous substances and conditions in the workplace

Some of these individuals and groups might be seen as primary targets of change as well --  some may be the objects of an intervention designed to teach them to advocate for themselves, for example.  Communities in developing nations, given the proper information, might be able to find and develop their own sources of clean water, build sanitation facilities, or change their farming practices to improve community nutrition.  Many programs aimed at people who are homeless are designed to help them learn the skills necessary to find and keep permanent shelter.  Workers can be helped to use direct action – negotiation, strikes, picketing – to improve workplace safety.  There is, in fact, a thin line between primary and secondary targets of change, and a case can be made that no one should ever be a secondary target.  Change may be most effective when those we call secondary targets are encouraged to participate in solving their own dilemmas and to advocate for themselves with other primary targets as well.

Agents of change

Agents of change are those who can help to bring change about.  In many cases, these agents are policy makers at some level, either in government or in public or private agencies, organizations, or institutions.  In other cases, however, they may be people who can influence those whose behavior your effort is designed to affect.  When you’re trying to bring about major political or policy changes, the agents of change might be the whole community, who can put pressure on politicians and policy makers.

Targets and agents of change are, in many instances – perhaps most instances – the same people.  In order to create more affordable housing in the community, your targets of change might be legislators or a commissioner or minister that sets housing policy.  These same people are also the agents of change, which is exactly why you’re targeting them.

By the same token, agents of change may participate in your effort.  If you can recruit officials, the media, the parents of teens subject to violence, or other change agents as partners, you eliminate the need to target them.  In fact, they can help you influence the appropriate targets of change, and their presence can greatly increase the effectiveness of your work.

Some of the most common agents of change:

• Legislators and other public officials
• The media
• Doctors and other medical professionals (including administrators)
• Teachers and school counselors
• Parents and other family members
• Peers
• People whose experience gives them credibility (former gang members, recovering substance abusers, etc.)
• Corporate executives and other business people
• Community leaders - these may be people with official or unofficial positions, or simply those who are trusted by the community for their intellect, interpersonal skills, fairness, and integrity

Sometimes, a whole sector is the group you want to reach. The health sector, for instance, can be a powerful pressure group if you’re aiming to change aspects of the health care system (or any part of the political system, for that matter.)

Why use community sectors to reach targets and agents of change?

Using community sectors can help to reach people who are associated with a particular sector, as well influence people who are not necessarily associated with the sector used.  Some reasons why you might want to use community sectors in this way include:

• To reach hard-to-contact populations. Populations that are suspicious of anyone who seems to be “official” or in a position of authority are often difficult to reach out to, even when the purpose of the contact is to their benefit.  Using human service organizations that have already established a rapport with them, or approaching them through their faith community or their own fraternal organizations may be the best way to gain their trust and begin to work with them. Other examples of hard-to-reach populations include immigrants who speak a language unfamiliar to all but a very few in the majority population, and people widely scattered in a rural area and/or living in hard-to-get-to places.
• To ensure representation from all sectors of the community. It is important to include, in all phases of an effort, everyone who will implement or be affected by it.  By using community sectors to approach potential partners and participants, you can draw from all parts of the community, involving those sectors as well as the people you’re trying to reach.
• To build trust. Using community sectors means that the individuals and groups you’re trying to reach will first be approached by people they know and trust.  Thus, your relationship with them will begin on a positive note, and you’ll have a better opportunity to build a long-term, trusting partnership.  At the same time, as various sectors are called into play, they may start to work together and develop mutual trust as well.
• To take advantage of the knowledge of people in different sectors. Contacting people in different sectors will give the effort the advantage of community knowledge – of the history of the issue and past efforts to address it, of personal relationships within the community, of areas of potential conflict, of what’s of real importance to various groups, etc.  This knowledge can serve you well in planning and implementation, and can save you from embarrassing situations that could seriously or fatally damage your work.
• To bring sectors together. Often, the various sectors in a community, although not hostile to one another, don’t tend to communicate or to work together on community building and problem solving.  By drawing various sectors into your effort, you can help to lay the groundwork for future intersectoral collaboration.
• To raise awareness of the issue throughout the community. In using sectors to reach targets and agents of change, you also have the opportunity to inform members of those sectors about the issue and spread that information throughout the sector in the ways it has already established.
• To gain widespread community support. In the same way that working through sectors can raise awareness, it can also help garner support for your effort.  By asking members of a sector to help the effort, you are recruiting them as participants in it.  This may give them a sense of ownership of the effort, and motivate them to support it among friends, family, and colleagues, who, in turn, can spread the word among their networks.  The net result can be support from all parts of the community.

How do you use community sectors to reach targets and agents of change?

Using community sectors will usually work best when you already have contacts in the relevant sectors.  If you don’t have those contacts, however, this is a good time, and gives you a good reason, to make them.  We’ll discuss establishing contacts as we go through some steps you might follow in order to reach the people you want to reach.

Determine whom you need to reach

This first step is tied in with your strategy for the effort.  How are you planning to create change, and whom do you need to influence in order to do so?  If you’re starting an advocacy campaign, your targets may be policy makers.  If you’re providing a service, you’ll want to contact potential participants or beneficiaries.  If you’re seeking to publicize and create excitement about an issue, you’ll probably try to involve the media.

In some cases, you’ll need to reach a number of different individuals and groups.  That advocacy effort might need to aim not only at legislators, for instance, but also at people experiencing the problem you’re concerned with.  Their telling of their own stories may be a much more powerful way of motivating the passage of a new law than anything your organization can do.  In recruiting participants for a service, you might also want to contact teachers, parents, and other individuals and groups that have strong connections with those who might need what you’re offering.

What do you mean by “reach?”

Just as there are different purposes for reaching agents of change than for reaching targets of change, there are different kinds of goals for reaching particular populations or groups. Among the most common of these goals:

• Send a message. You may simply want to tell people something. (“Research shows that people who participate in the arts live longer and enjoy life more than those who don’t.” “One of every 12 children in this community goes to bed hungry every night.”)
• Send a message meant to persuade people to take a specific action. (“Call the hotline to report drug dealing, violence, and other crime in your neighborhood. 123-456-7890.”)
• Send a message meant to change people’s behavior. Falling into this category was a Massachusetts ad campaign aimed at curbing teen smoking. Rather than just screaming “Quit!” these emphasized what smoking does to the skin, breath, and fitness of smokers. The ads proved extremely effective at lowering the percentage of teens in the state who either started or continued to smoke.
• Attract people to an event. A free vaccination clinic, a job fair, a rally to protest budget cuts, etc.
• Attract people to a service. Health and human service programs – a job training program, a mental health center, a domestic violence or homeless shelter, a food pantry, adult literacy classes, a community art program, etc.
• Attract volunteers. These may be needed for an event or program, to staff the headquarters of a community initiative, or to conduct outreach or spread information.
• Attract public support for an event, program, or policy position.
• Engage in advocacy or influence policy. This generally involves one of two strategies: Meeting officials or policy makers personally, or putting pressure on them through direct action, the media, or public opinion. In the second case, the people you want to reach are not the officials or policy makers themselves, but whoever can apply pressure – people who’ll participate in a demonstration, the media, those who can spread the word in the community, etc.

So, reaching people may not be as simple as it sounds. In some cases, it’s a matter of simply spreading the word, in others of making personal contact, in still others of literally, or almost literally, taking people by the hand and leading them to where you want them to be. Each kind of action takes a somewhat different strategy, but all are possible by using sectors as the contact points.

Decide what sectors might need to be involved to reach the desired group(s)

You might have to do some research here.  Remember the importance of soccer and the church to the Portuguese community in the introduction to this section?  What sector do the people of concern identify with?  Whom do they listen to and respect?  Who can influence them?

A particular group might best be reached through its religious institutions, another through its schools, and yet another through community elders or leaders.  Elected officials can often be reached through two sectors at once: the political sector (i.e., their colleagues) and the electorate (i.e., the public that will or will not vote for them in the next election).

Other sectors that might help are those that people have contact with every day – businesses, radio and TV stations, schools, etc.  If they can include your message or materials in their regular contact with your target audience, it’s likely that some of that audience will respond.

Determine who in a given sector is the best contact, and establish that contact

Using community sectors to reach people depends on understanding both which sectors those people respond to and which individuals and groups in those sectors are seen as credible and trusted messengers. The fact that a particular agency works with a population doesn’t necessarily mean that its voice is listened to, but there may be individuals within that agency who are listened to. Clergy may be granted high status in many immigrant communities, but a clergy person who has proved feckless or untrustworthy can lose credibility along with that status.

This is where already having contacts in a sector can pay off. If your contact isn’t the right person to reach out to the population of concern, she can probably tell you who is, and perhaps provide an introduction as well.  If you don’t have contacts, now is the time to make some.

Making contacts in various community sectors

The best approach to making contacts is always personal. If you don’t know anyone in a sector who can get you started, look for friends, participants, or colleagues that have connections with leaders or others within the sector you’re interested in, and ask them to make an introduction.  It will be much easier to establish a relationship if you come “recommended” by someone the person you contact knows. If a personal introduction isn’t practical for some reason, you can phone and explain that “Jim suggested I call you,” which can serve the same purpose.

If you can’t find someone who knows a likely contact, you’ll have to rely on a “cold call,” or calling a person you don’t know. This can be made easier by finding out who is the right person to call, and learning what you can about that person before you get in touch with her.  Then, when you call, you can say truthfully, “I think you may be able to help me,” and explain why.  Most people will respond to this kind of approach, both because it’s flattering (it says that your contact is an influential or knowledgeable person), and because people generally like to feel helpful.

If you have no connection at all – no one to make an introduction, no mutual acquaintance, no clue as to who an appropriate first contact might be – your cold call may be a little more awkward.  You’ll have to make a guess as to whom to try first, and you’ll have to be ready to make several calls before you find the right person.

The best strategy is generally to start with someone who is likely to know many of the people you want to reach.  In an immigrant community, this may be a clergy person; in the business sector, it may be the Director of the Chamber of Commerce; in the health sector, a hospital administrator.  In the case of the political sector, a good place to start might be with an aide of your own legislator.  Once you’re on the phone, the “I hope you can help me” strategy is probably your best bet: explain what you need, and ask for help.

A note here:  The reason we assume that a phone call is the medium you’ll use for first contact is that that’s usually the most courteous approach.  Whether you’re asking for a meeting or just looking for information, calling may be considered more respectful and personal than e-mail (though some folks do use e-mail as their primary form of communication nowadays).  It also gives the other person information about you – your interpersonal style, your knowledge of the issue – and allows him to ask questions and tell you about himself as well.  The more personal your approach is, the more likely you are to get the help you need.

Clarify what you’re asking for

Why do you want to reach people?  What do you want me to do? These are the first questions that most people will ask when you contact them, and you should have the answers on the tip of your tongue.  The answer to the first question should include some information about your organization and your effort, why the effort is positive and necessary, what you hope it will accomplish, and a description of the people you want to involve. The answer to the second question can vary from suggesting other good contacts to walking you around a neighborhood and introducing you to people and organizations.

Whatever the answers are, they should be clear, complete, and accurate.  You won’t make friends – or help your reputation – by asking for less than you need and then demanding more later.  Think carefully through what you want people to do, and then ask them to do just that.  If they want to do less, you can negotiate, and both parties will know what they’re getting.

Be creative

There are many ways to use community sectors to reach people.  We’ve largely focused on using a relatively personal approach, either through individuals, such as clergy or social workers, or through institutions, such as the schools.  There are also less direct approaches, such as including a notice about a free blood-pressure reduction program with every receipt at all the pharmacies in the community, or placing a message about the need for adult literacy funding in the programs of arts organizations.

Use the media to reach people through the channels they normally pay attention to

The media sector cuts across all the others as a way to reach a given population. It can be used almost no matter whom you’re trying to reach: it’s just a matter of employing the media outlets that your population of concern is likely to favor. Teens might best be reached through advertisments on music streaming services, for example, or potential volunteers through public TV.

A “sector” to keep in mind is that composed of people you’ve already drawn into your effort as partners, participants in an intervention or program, or change agents.  This isn’t really a sector, of course, since it’s usually a mix of people from different sectors, but it’s incredibly useful nonetheless.  Ask the folks you’re already working with for help in bringing in their friends and acquaintances.  Participants are often the best recruiters for programs, for instance.  Legislators are typically seen as credible by other legislators.

To a certain extent, this process divides people into sectors again, but the folks representing each sector in this case have already bought into your effort.  They’re more likely to pursue people enthusiastically, and to stick to the task.

Keep at it

Recruiting the first few targets or agents of change doesn’t mean your job is done.  Programs and services have to continue to recruit participants in order to serve the community.  Advocacy efforts must persist over the long term in order to maintain and consolidate gains, make sure that the issue remains in the public and official consciousness, and continue to make advances.   Reaching out to targets and agents of change should continue throughout the life of any effort and beyond, if you want to foster real, positive social change in your community.

In Summary

Whether your goal in the community is to spread information, deliver a service, run a program or initiative, improve environmental or social conditions, or pursue advocacy, you’ll have to reach targets and agents of change. One way to accomplish that is to go through community sectors – the parts of the community defined by common interests, purposes, and/or backgrounds.

The business sector, the health care sector, the education sector, the government sector, the religious sector, the banking sector – all of these are familiar to most of us, as are many other sectors. Each has its members, as well as those who are outside it but are influenced by it.

In general, people respond to those they trust and those with whom they know they share a common interest. Business owners may therefore be more inclined to listen to messages from the business sector than from politicians or doctors.  Immigrants might be more attracted to a program if it’s recommended by other immigrants from their group or by human service organizations they rely on. Thus, by using community sectors to contact and communicate with their members and others they influence, you can spread a wide net in the community, and attract a broad range of people to your effort.

What do we mean by community sectors?

___Community sectors are the various groups that people in the larger community might be divided into for reasons of common social, political, economic, cultural, or religious interests

___Membership in sectors often overlaps

___Different communities may contain sectors specific to those types of communities

___Sectors that exist in many or most communities include:

• Health

• Education

• Law enforcement

• Government

• Business

• Youth

• Parents

• The media

• Human services

• Religion

• Service/fraternal organizations

• Community activist and volunteer groups

• Arts and culture

• Housing and development

• Sports and recreation

• The environment

• Agriculture

Who are the targets and agents of change?

___Targets of change are either those whose behavior you want to change or those who stand to benefit from the changes your effort aims to bring about

__ Primary targets of change are those whose behavior you’re trying to change directly

___Secondary targets of change are those who stand to benefit from changes in others’ behavior or in circumstances, rather than from changes in their own behavior

___Agents of change are those – policy makers, for example – who can help to bring change about

___Agents of change are often primary targets of change as well, especially in advocacy efforts

Why use community sectors to reach targets and agents of change?

___To reach hard-to-contact populations

___To ensure representation from all sectors of the community

___To build trust

___To take advantage of the knowledge of people in different sectors

___To bring sectors together

___To raise awareness of the issue throughout the community

___To gain widespread community support

How do you use community sectors to reach targets and agents of change?

___Determine whom you need to reach

___Decide what sectors might be needed to reach the desired group(s)

___Determine who in a given sector is the best contact, and establish that contact

___Clarify what you’re asking for

___Be creative

___Use the media to reach people through the channels they normally pay attention to

___Keep at it

A PowerPoint presentation summarizing the major points in the section.