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Question:
Dear Nicole,

Thank you for these references. Having looked through them, I have some questions.

Was a framework/ model/ theory used to guide the development and evaluation of the toolbox/ toolkit? I don't mean the conceptual framework described in Francisco et al 2001, as this appears to refer to the content.

Did the authors utilized an adult educational theory when developing the content?

Were any behaviour change theories used? i.e., the authors are trying to change audience behaviour. Was this measured?

How were stakeholders chosen? Was a consensus method applied to choices made? Was there a Steering/ Advisory Group?

Was feasibility, usability, etc evaluated?

Was a process and/or outcome evaluation conducted?

There is some use of 'toolbox' and 'toolkit'. Are these seen as interchangeable? What definition is used?

When material / literature was collected, was systematic review methodology used? or something else.

Was there guidance from a specific dissemination theory?

Thanks in advance. I'm asking as a person who is trying to learn from others in the field.

Stacey Guy
sguy7@uwo.ca
Answer:

Hi Stacey,
 
Please see the answers to your questions from the CTB team below
 
Kind Regards,
Nicole
 
---------------------------------------
Hello, Stacey –
 
     … Thank you for your very thoughtful questions about the Community Tool Box, and please excuse our belated reply.
 
         I’ll try to respond to them briefly. I was not a creator of the Community Tool Box, and am responding here for myself; but as a founding team member who was there from the beginning, I think I may have a sense of our origins and the thinking behind them.
 
 
Was a framework/ model/ theory used to guide the development and evaluation
of the toolbox/ toolkit? I don't mean the conceptual framework described in Francisco et al 2001, as this appears to refer to the content.
 
       In our formation, theories, models, and frameworks were secondary considerations.  Our main goal was and is to provide information on community health and development that readers can apply directly in their own community settings to improve community outcomes.
 
   
Did the authors utilized an adult educational theory when developing the
content?
 
        No
 
   
 Were any behaviour change theories used? i.e., the authors are trying to
 change audience behaviour.  Was this measured?
 
      Not explicitly.  We were trying to change audience behavior, in the sense that we wanted readers to use information derived in practice.  But we did not attempt to measure behavior change directly.
 
 
How were stakeholders chosen? Was a consensus method applied to choices made?
Was there a Steering/ Advisory Group?
 
       At the beginning, we formed an Advisory Group of perhaps 15 members. These were well-regarded professionals in the community health and development field who we knew personally, or at least knew of.  We dialogued with them by e-mail and met with them in conference call quarterly for a few years.
 
 
Was feasibility, usability, etc evaluated?
 
       Feasibility and usability were measured largely through measures of traffic on the site (e.g., unique sessions, bounce rate, time on site, use by individual section). For the past decade or so, we have been using Google Analytics to obtain more refined measures; we go over such feedback together on an (approximately) quarterly basis.
 
        In addition, we have conducted and continue to conduct approximately-yearly surveys of the nearly 1000 users on our e-mail distribution list.  The feedback on those surveys helps us to evaluate and sometimes modify our work.   We are also guided by comments received in our Guest Book, a link to which has always been on our home page, as well as by comments directed to us at tookbox@ku.edu
 
 
Was a process and/or outcome evaluation conducted?
 
      See response to question above
 
 
There is some use of 'toolbox' and 'toolkit'. Are these seen as
 interchangeable? What definition is used?
 
      The terms overlap, but are not interchangeable. “Tool Box” refers to the entire Community Tool Box site. “Toolkit” for us refers to one of 16 sets  of specific instructional  materials associated with a key community topic (assessment, planning, etc.)
 
 
 When material / literature was collected, was systematic review methodology
 used? or something else.
 
       I’m not sure I would say we used “systematic review methodology,” but in creating different content on the site, we looked for the best available sources at the time, and cited them as references.
 
 
Was there guidance from a specific dissemination theory?
   
       Not as such.  Much of our training and experience as community development professionals does involve dissemination, and we have always attempted to apply that knowledge in publicizing our work.
 
 
           I hope these responses may be helpful to you.  We surely appreciate your being in touch with us, and send best wishes for continued success in all the work you do. 
 
                             Sincerely,  
 
                                           Bill Berkowitz
                                           for the Community Tool Box team 

Question Date: س., 11/07/2017