What is community readiness? ___Community readiness is the degree to which a community is ready to take action on an issue. Community readiness is: ___Issue-specific. ___Measurable. ___Measurable across multiple dimensions. ___Variable across dimensions. ___Variable across different segments of the community. ___Able to be increased successfully. ___Is essential knowledge for addressing an issue. What is the community readiness model? ___The community readiness model has six dimensions and nine levels. Dimensions of community readiness: ___Community efforts. ___Community knowledge of the efforts. ___Leadership. ___Community climate. ___Community knowledge about the issue. ___Resources related to the issue. Levels of community readiness: ___No awareness. ___Denial/Resistance. ___Vague awareness. ___Pre-planning. ___Preparation. ___Initiation. ___Stabilization. ___Confirmation/Expansion. ___High level of community ownership. Why use the community readiness model? ___It conserves valuable resources (time, money, people) by guiding the selection of strategies that are most likely to be successful. ___It is an efficient, inexpensive, and easy-to-use tool. ___It promotes community recognition and ownership of the issue. ___Because of strong community ownership, it helps to assure that strategies are culturally congruent and sustainable. ___It encourages the use of local experts and resources instead of reliance on outside experts and resources. ___The process of community change can be complex and challenging, but the model breaks down the process into a series of manageable steps. ___It creates a community vision for healthy change When should you use the community readiness model? ___In the course of an ongoing effort. ___Each time you tackle a new issue. ___When several different communities, or different segments of the community, are involved. ___When you’re planning an effort that involves a participatory process. ___When you’re engaged in a community or neighborhood planning effort. Who should be involved in using the community readiness model? ___Who should consider using the model and/or administering the assessment? Policymakers and planners. Community activists. Health and human service organizations. Coalitions. Anyone else interested in community or social change. ___Who should be surveyed when the model is being applied? Schools/Universities Municipal/county/tribal government Law enforcement Health & medical professions Social services Mental health & treatment services Clergy or spiritual community Community at large Youth People on fixed incomes How do you use the community readiness model? Administering and scoring the community readiness assessment: ___Choose and train interviewers. ___Choose and train scorers. ___Revise the assessment tool, if necessary, to reflect the issue you’re concerned with. ___Select four to ten people to interview. ___Contact the people you have identified and see if they would be willing to discuss the issue. ___Conduct your interviews. ___Score the interviews. Using community readiness information: ___Initiate a participatory planning process, if possible. ___To move ahead, readiness on all dimensions must be at about the same level. ___Begin with strategies appropriate to the community’s stage of readiness. ___Stick to it – the job’s never really done.
