What do we mean by formal public reporting processes? Why create formal public reporting processes? Who should be involved in creating formal public reporting processes? When should you create formal public reporting processes? How do you create formal public reporting processes? Community efforts often work best when community members have meaningful opportunities to participate. Not everyone can serve on a planning or oversight committee or take part directly in implementation, however. So how do you keep community members informed, involved, and able to contribute? One important way is to ensure that community members have access to clear information about priority community issues, efforts to address them, progress being made, challenges encountered, and results. This section will help you develop communication and reporting processes that keep the community informed and involved, create opportunities for feedback, and strengthen accountability for the effort. What do we mean by formal public reporting processes? Reporting can simply mean sharing information. You might tell a friend about a meeting you attended or a class you took. These types of exchanges represent informal reporting. A formal reporting process generally has specific characteristics: Formal reports are delivered on a regular or established schedule. Recipients may expect to receive periodic updates, such as quarterly and/or annual progress reports. Reporting should use consistent measures where appropriate so that changes and trends can be understood over time. Measures may be quantitative (number-based), qualitative (such as narratives, interviews, observations, or other descriptive information), or a combination of both. Formal reports should identify lessons learned, areas for improvement, and possible adjustments, and reporting should continue throughout the life of the effort. Why create formal public reporting processes? To involve the community and build understanding, participation, and support. Formal reporting processes keep community members informed and create opportunities for them to participate, provide feedback, and influence the effort. Involving community members in designing the reporting process can also help ensure that the information is useful, accessible, and responsive to their priorities. To increase awareness of the issue and the effort. Clear and accessible communication can help people who are unfamiliar with the issue understand why it matters, what is being done, and how they can learn more or become involved. To hold the effort accountable. Public reporting should communicate accomplishments as well as challenges, limitations, unintended effects, and adjustments needed to improve the initiative's effectiveness. To keep track of progress. Routine reporting helps both community members and people involved in implementation understand what has been done, what has been learned, what progress has occurred, and what still needs attention. To collect new ideas for the effort. Community meetings and other ways of sharing information can also create opportunities for public feedback, which may identify new ideas, concerns, strengths, or adjustments that can improve the work. To be open and transparent. Being open about the effort's process, decisions, successes, challenges, and results can build trust and demonstrate accountability, while giving community members information they can use to assess the effort for themselves. Who should be involved in creating formal public reporting processes? Formal reporting is most useful when it provides meaningful information to the people and communities affected by an effort. People who are affected by, involved in, or able to contribute to the effort should therefore have opportunities to help shape the reporting process. They can identify what information is most useful, how it should be shared, what questions need to be answered, and how reporting can be more transparent and accessible. Some of the people and groups you might involve include: People and communities most directly affected by the issue or effort Local and other relevant officials Local businesses and employers Community advocates and organizations, particularly those already involved with the issue People whose work, responsibilities, or services may be affected by changes resulting from the effort (for example, law enforcement personnel may need additional training related to responses to domestic violence) People who will implement the effort When should you create a formal public reporting process? Ideally, a formal reporting process should be established when an organization or effort begins implementation so that community members can understand its work, follow its progress, and provide feedback over time. If that has not happened, there are other points when establishing a reporting process may be especially useful. When community participation or support is needed. If community advocacy, financial resources, volunteer participation, partnerships, or other contributions are important to the effort, people need clear information about its goals, progress, expected benefits, limitations, and use of resources. When there are questions about the effort. Questions may arise about the effort's necessity, cost, effectiveness, fairness, or implementation. A transparent reporting process can provide evidence, explain what is known and not yet known, and invite community members into meaningful discussion. When the issue the effort addresses has become urgent or may cause significant harm. Timely reporting can help community members understand the nature and scope of the issue, what actions are being taken, what uncertainties remain, and how people can participate in or respond to the effort. To alert and inform the community about emerging or ongoing issues and the actions being considered or taken in response. How do you create formal public reporting processes? Assemble a group to plan the reporting process The group should include people representing the communities and organizations affected by or involved in the effort, as well as relevant advocates and partners. It may also be helpful to include people with communication expertise, such as journalists, communications professionals, interpreters, accessibility specialists, or community media representatives. The group should understand the intended audiences and their preferred ways of receiving information. Its task is to develop a reporting process that can reach and inform key audiences and the broader public while supporting accessibility, transparency, participation, and accountability. Define the aim of the reporting process In consultation with people and groups affected by or involved in the effort, decide what you want the reporting process to accomplish. Some possibilities include: To comply with funders' or government agencies' reporting requirements To inform the public about the issue and your work To make sure that the effort gathers and analyzes appropriate information so that its work, progress, outcomes, challenges, and lessons learned are accurately documented and can inform ongoing improvement To hold the effort accountable To build public understanding and support for appropriate policy or community action To raise funds or other resources Consult with and collect information from stakeholders Remember that consultation should include people who are affected by the effort, people involved in carrying it out, and others who can contribute useful knowledge, perspectives, or resources to the reporting process. There are a number of purposes for consulting with these individuals and groups: To understand what they already know about the issue To understand what they know about the effort and/or the organization, institution, or coalition To identify what information about the process, progress, results, and challenges would be useful to them To learn about community priorities, strengths, needs, concerns, and whether modifications to the effort or reporting process may be needed To understand what they see as the benefits, limitations, or challenges of public reporting To invite them, where appropriate, to participate in the reporting process To give community members meaningful opportunities to influence and participate in the effort To make the reporting process as fair, accessible, open, and accountable to the community as possible To accomplish these purposes, you can conduct individual and group interviews, listening sessions, public forums, community meetings, surveys, and informal conversations with community members and other relevant groups. Identify and prioritize the various audiences you want to reach It is important to know who you are trying to reach and what kinds of information will be most useful to each audience. Community audiences may differ in how they are affected by or connected to the issue, their level of interest, their existing knowledge, their preferred communication channels, the languages they use, their accessibility needs, their level of trust or support, and their ability to influence or participate in decisions. Some of the audiences you may want to reach include: People and communities affected by the issue People who use particular languages or communication formats Elected officials, public officials, and policymakers Other community leaders, including leaders of businesses and institutions and community members who are trusted or respected for their knowledge, service, relationships, or experience The general public Public and private funders, which may include local, national, or international foundations, agencies, or development organizations You may decide to prioritize audiences depending on the goals of the reporting process, while making sure that people most directly affected by the issue are not excluded simply because they have less formal power or influence. Understand the interests and preferred communication methods of your intended audiences Different audiences may need different information. People directly affected by an issue may want clear information about what the effort means for them, while policymakers may need information about outcomes, community priorities, costs, implementation, and possible policy implications. Tailoring information should make it more relevant and accessible without changing or selectively presenting facts in ways that could mislead different audiences. Another important consideration is how different audiences prefer or are able to receive information. Some people may rely on television or radio, others on newspapers, websites, email, social media, text messaging, printed materials, or trusted community sources such as faith leaders, community health workers, educators, or local organizations. In communities where digital or mass-media access is limited, in-person meetings, local gatherings, community radio, or other locally appropriate approaches may be more effective. Ask community members which channels they use and trust rather than assuming that one method will work for everyone. Timing is also important. Consider when people are most likely to have the time and opportunity to engage with reports. Community events, legislative sessions, organizational planning cycles, or other relevant periods may provide useful opportunities for sharing information, as long as timing does not compromise accuracy or transparency. Tailor your reporting to each audience Once you have identified priority audiences and learned about their interests, information needs, languages, accessibility needs, and preferred communication methods, design reporting materials that are clear and useful to them. Use accessible language, relevant examples, appropriate formats, and communication channels that people are likely to use and trust. Tailoring should improve understanding and access rather than manipulate how information is interpreted. For example, a report on the progress of an immunization program for Spanish-speaking families in a U.S. community might be shared in Spanish through trusted Spanish-language media, community organizations, health workers, and digital channels. A similar effort in a rural community elsewhere might use the locally preferred language and communication channels, such as community radio, local gatherings, health workers, or market-day outreach. The appropriate approach should be determined with the community rather than assumed in advance. Plan an ongoing communications campaign that includes annual reports The reporting process should be part of an overall communication strategy that may include: Clear and memorable information about the issue and the effort Stories and experiences, shared with appropriate consent, that illustrate community strengths, challenges, progress, and lessons learned Invitations for people to participate or contribute through advocacy, volunteering, partnerships, funding, or in-kind support Regular periodic progress reports about the effort An annual comprehensive report on the state of the effort and the issue, including accomplishments, challenges, lessons learned, and possible adjustments for the next year These communication elements should be shared through multiple channels and formats so that people with different communication preferences and access needs can receive them. When appropriate, trusted community messengers – such as community leaders, faith leaders, educators, health workers, advocates, media figures, athletes, or other respected community members – can help share information. Choose messengers with input from the audiences you hope to reach. Test your communications and public reports with the intended audiences This is a three-step process: Share draft materials with members of the intended audiences through focus groups, interviews, user testing, or other feedback methods Adjust messages and formats to improve clarity, accessibility, accuracy, relevance, and usefulness based on feedback Adjust the overall communication plan based on feedback, available resources, effectiveness, and accessibility Assess and respond to public understanding and perspectives about the effort Based on your testing and ongoing engagement, determine what community members know, understand, and think about your effort. Do they have access to accurate and sufficient information? What questions or concerns do they have? Do they understand how the issue affects different parts of the community? Do they see value in the effort, and where do they believe it needs improvement? Surveys, public forums, focus groups, listening sessions, and interviews can deepen your understanding of these perspectives. Once you understand community perspectives, respond to gaps in information, misinformation, questions, criticism, and disagreement with clear and accurate information. Use public education activities, meetings and forums, presentations to community groups, websites, email lists, social media, and other appropriate communication channels. The goal is not simply to persuade people to support the effort, but to create informed discussion and give people meaningful opportunities to raise concerns and influence improvement. If concerns, objections, or criticism identify legitimate weaknesses in the effort – such as gaps in planning, inequitable effects, barriers to participation, or implementation problems – acknowledge them and determine how they can be addressed. Transparency about challenges can strengthen accountability and trust more than defending approaches that are not working. Developing constructive relationships with local and community media can also help make accurate information about the effort available to the public and create opportunities for community questions and discussion. Engage public officials about the issues and the effort Legislators and policymakers can help raise awareness of an issue, connect community concerns with policy discussions, support appropriate funding, and influence policies that affect long-term conditions. Public reporting can provide them with evidence, community perspectives, and information they need to make informed decisions. Identify potential legislative or policy champions. An elected or appointed official who understands the issue and is willing to engage with community perspectives may be able to help bring attention to the effort and related policy needs. Personal or professional experience with the issue may strengthen that interest, but community priorities and evidence should remain central. Inform policymakers about the issue and your effort. Share evidence, community perspectives, program results, challenges, and policy implications. Supportive policymakers may help arrange presentations, connect organizations with relevant committees or agencies, and bring community concerns into policy discussions. Mobilize your local partners. Encourage people affected by the issue, community organizations, advocates, service providers, and other partners to communicate with policymakers when appropriate. Coordinated and informed public participation can help policymakers understand community priorities, experiences, and concerns. Implement the communication and reporting campaign Develop action plans for the communication and reporting effort, dividing responsibilities among participants and identifying who will be involved, what the timeline is, what resources are needed, and what outcomes are intended. Then use the communication and reporting formats you have developed and tested to share progress, results, challenges, lessons learned, and implications for future work. Encourage your intended audiences to use the reports to carry the effort further Use reports in discussions with community members, partners, decision-makers, and other relevant groups to reflect on and interpret results and discuss what they mean for future work. What adjustments do the findings suggest? What evidence supports those adjustments? What perspectives or information may still be missing? Use accessible language and explain information in ways that are clear to the intended audience. Invite feedback about how to improve the effort, and when you ask for feedback, explain how it will be considered. Implement appropriate modifications when possible and communicate those changes. When recommendations cannot be adopted, explain the reasoning transparently. Ultimately, the goal is to use reporting and community feedback together to improve the effectiveness, accessibility, equity, and responsiveness of the effort. Continue the reporting and communications campaign A public reporting process is not a one-time activity. It should continue over the long term so that community members can follow progress, ask questions, contribute ideas, assess accountability, and remain meaningfully involved as the effort evolves. In Summary Throughout a community effort, it is important to establish and maintain communication with people and groups affected by or involved in the work and with the broader community. Effective communication is two-way: organizations share information, and community members have meaningful opportunities to ask questions, provide feedback, contribute knowledge, and influence decisions. Formal public reporting is a more structured part of that communication. It provides information about the state and progress of an effort, what has been learned, what results have occurred, what challenges remain, and what changes may be needed. When community feedback is taken seriously and visibly informs decisions and improvements, reporting can strengthen trust, shared investment, accountability, and participation. Over time, these processes can help create both a more effective effort and a better-informed community prepared to address future issues collaboratively. Contributor Phil Rabinowitz Resources Online Resources The purpose of the Best Practices in Public Reporting series is to provide practical approaches to designing public reports that make health care performance information clear, meaningful, and usable by consumers. Report 1: How to Effectively Present Health Care Performance Data to Consumers focuses on the presentation of comparative health care performance data. Report 2: Maximizing Consumer Understanding of Public Comparative Quality Reports: Effective Use of Explanatory Information focuses on the explanatory information in public reports, beyond the performance data itself, that helps to accurately communicate quality ratings to consumers and motivate them to use the ratings in making informed health care decisions. Report 3: How to Maximize Public Awareness and Use of Comparative Quality Reports through Effective Promotion and Dissemination Strategies applies social marketing and other principles to explore how to target reports to specific audiences, develop messages to promote the report with key audiences, engage consumer advocacy and community groups in promoting reports and helping people use them, disseminate reports through trusted channels, and ensure that consumers see and use comparative quality reports. Print Resources Association for Community Health Improvement. Step 6: Planning for Action and Monitoring Progress. Community Health Assessment Toolkit. Catholic Health Association (March 2011 Draft). Developing an Implementation Strategy, Steps 1-8. Assessing and Addressing Community Health Needs. (85-107). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2010). Action Step 1: Assemble the Community Team. Community health Assessment and Group Evaluation (CHANGE) Action Guide: Building a Foundation of Knowledge to Prioritize Community Needs (8-10). Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. HRSA Maternal and Child Health Needs Assessment Guide: Design Programs and Allocate Resources. National Association of County and City Health Officials. (2001). Phase 6: Action Cycle. Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships: Web-based Framework Tool. Washington, DC: National Association of County and City Health Officials. National Association of County and City Health Officials. (2008). Task 13: Evaluate progress and plan for the future. Protocol for Assessing Community Excellence in Environmental Health (64-65). Voluntary Hospitals of America (1994). Phase VI: Action and Evaluation. Community Health Assessment: A Process for Positive Change (77-80). Texas: Voluntary Hospitals of America, Inc.
