What do we mean by using Internet-based tools to promote community health and development? You use Internet based tools: ___To learn how to do the work. ___To gather information. ___To communicate with others. ___To distribute educational or other information to participants. ___To conduct business. ___To engage in advocacy. Why use Internet-based tools to promote community health and development? ___They give access to knowledge and information to everyone. ___They make it possible for people to change their lives and communities themselves. ___They help to distribute power and control more equitably throughout societies. ___They help to combat ignorance and misinformation (as well as disinformation - the intentional lies that governments, corporations, institutions, and other entities sometimes tell in order to keep control or to protect their own self-interest). ___They make it easier for people to understand how they can effect social change, and therefore to be more willing to attempt it. ___They give people models to follow. ___They put people concerned with health and community development in touch with one another. ___They increase the ease and effectiveness of advocacy, particularly for those who might otherwise have no voice. ___They can ease access to elected and appointed officials. ___They can help to assure the accountability of those officials and of oversight bodies. ___They can shorten response time to community emergencies or to addressing community needs. ___They encourage and facilitate collaboration among individuals and organizations at all levels. Who should use Internet-based tools to promote community health and development? ___Professionals and professional organizations. ___Grass roots and community-based organizations. ___Larger nonprofits and initiatives. ___Community activists. ___Political activists. ___Participants in and beneficiaries of health and community service organizations and initiatives. ___Students in disciplines related to health and community services. When should you use Internet-based tools to promote community health and development? ___When you want to build the community's capacity to solve its own problems. ___When you're starting a program, initiative, or other effort with little information. ___When you need to communicate with a large number of people (and decide or embark on an action) quickly. ___When you need to learn about or understand laws or regulations. ___When you need information for a grant proposal or other funding possibility. ___When you want to get your own message out, or set up a place where everyone involved in your organization or effort or issue can communicate. The logic behind the Community Tool Box as an Internet-based tool for the promotion of health and community development. Guiding principles: ___An organization's vision, mission, and philosophy should all be consistent with one another. ___Almost any effort will benefit from a participatory process. ___Ethics are important. Components of health and community development, with their respective core competencies: ___Understanding the context of the work and collaborative planning Creating and maintaining coalitions Assessing community resources Analyzing community-identified problems and goals Developing a framework or model of change Developing strategic and action plans Building leadership ___Community action and intervention Developing an intervention Increasing participation and membership Enhancing cultural competency ___Community and system change Advocating for change Influencing policy development Evaluating the initiative ___Widespread behavior change and improvement in population-level outcomes Implementing a social marketing campaign ___Sustaining the effort Applying for grants Improving organizational management and development Contributor Phil Rabinowitz
