Thanks for your question. All of the Toolkits (available under ?Do the Work?) are available in Spanish. Additionally, roughly one fourth of the CTB Sections (available from the Table of Contents) have been translated and published into Spanish. Sections Published in Spanish Part A. Models for Promoting community Health and Development: Gateways to the Tools Chapter 1. Our Model for Community Change and Improvement Section 3. Our Model of Practice: Building Capacity for Community and Systems Change Section 5. Our Evaluation Model: Evaluating Comprehensive Community Initiatives Section 7. Working Together for Healthier Communities: A Framework for Collaboration Among Community Partnerships, Support Organizations, and Funders Section 8. Some Lessons Learned on Community Organization and Change Section 10. Using Internet-Based Tools to Promote Community Health and Development Part B. Community Assessment, Agenda Setting, and Choice of Broad Strategies Chapter 3. Assessing Community needs and Resources Section 1. Developing a Plan for Identifying Local Needs and Resources Section 2. Understanding and Describing the Community Section 4. Collecting Information About the Problem Section 5. Analyzing Community Problems Section 6. Conducting Focus Groups Section 7. Conducting Needs Assessment Surveys Section 8. Identifying Community Assets and Resources Section 9. Developing Baseline Measures of Behavior Section 10. Conducting Concerns Surveys Section 11. Determining Service Utilization Section 12. Conducting Interviews Section 14. SWOT Analysis: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats Chapter 4. Getting Issues on the Public Agenda Section 1. Developing a Plan for Getting Community Health and Development Issues on the Local Agenda Section 5. Making Community Presentations Chapter 5. Choosing Strategies to Promote Community Health and Development Section 5. Coalition Building I: Starting a Coalition Section 6. Coalition Building II: Maintaining a Coalition Part C. Promoting Interest and Participation in Initiatives Chapter 7. Encouraging Involvement in Community Work Section 1. Developing a Plan for Increasing Participation in Community Action Section 7. Involving People Most Affected by the Problem Part D. Developing a Strategic Plan, Organizational Structure, and Training System Chapter 8. Developing a Strategic Plan Section 1. An Overview of Strategic Planning or "VMOSA" (Vision, Mission, Objectives, Strategies, and Action Plans) Section 2. Proclaiming Your Dream: Developing Vision and Mission Statements Section 3. Creating Objectives Section 4. Developing Successful Strategies: Planning to Win Section 5. Developing an Action Plan Section 6. Obtaining Feedback from Constituents: What Changes are Important and Feasible? Section 7. Identifying Action Steps in Bringing About Community and Systems Change Part E. Leadership, Management, and Group Facilitation Chapter 13. Orienting Ideas in Leadership Section 1. Developing a Plan for Building Leadership Chapter 14. Core Functions in Leadership Section 1. Learning How to Be a Community Leader Part F. Analyzing Community Problems and Designing and Adapting Community Interventions Chapter 17. Analyzing Community Problems and Solutions Section 4. Analyzing Root Causes of Problems: The "But Why?" Technique Chapter 18. Deciding Where to Start Section 1. Designing Community Interventions Section 2. Participatory Approaches to Planning Community Interventions Section 3. Identifying Targets and Agents of Change: Who Can Benefit and Who Can Help Chapter 19. Choosing and Adapting Community Interventions Section 2. Understanding Risk and Protective Factors: Their Use in Selecting Potential Targets and Promising Strategies for Interventions Part G. Implementing Promising Community Interventions Chapter 20. Providing Information and Enhancing Skills Section 6. Training for Conflict Resolution Chapter 22. Youth Mentoring Programs Section 1. Building Youth Mentoring Programs Part J. Evaluating Community Programs and Initiatives Chapter 36. Introduction to Evaluation Section 3. Understanding Community Leadership, Evaluators, and Funders: What Are Their Interests? Chapter 38. Some Methods for Evaluating Comprehensive Community Initiatives Section 1. Measuring Success: Evaluating Comprehensive Community Initiatives Section 2. Gathering Information: Monitoring Your Progress Section 9. Gathering and Using Community-Level Indicators Part L. Generating, Managing, and Sustaining Financial Resources Chapter 42. Getting Grants and Financial Resources Section 1. Developing a Plan for Financial Sustainability Section 2. Creating a Business Plan Section 3. Developing a Committee to Help with Financial Sustainability Section 4. Applying for a Grant: The General Approach Section 5. Writing a Grant Part M. Social Marketing and Institutionalization of the Initiative Chapter 46. Planning for Long-Term Institutionalization Section 1. Strategies for the Long-Term Institutionalization of an Initiative: An Overview
Hello, thanks for your question and congratulations on the grant to support activism with mini-grants. I'd have a look at the Kellogg Foundation's website that highlights the "Yes We Can!" mini-grant project in Battle Creek Michigan. This program has met with some success and I imagine that their learning thus far may be of use to you. Also, if you can get a hold of an article entitled: "Mobilizing Residents for Action: The Role of Small Wins and Strategic Supports" by Pennie G. Foster-Fishman, Katie Fitzgerald, Cherise Brandell, Branda Nowell, David Chavis, Laurie A. Van Egeren (American Journal of Community Psychology, Volume 38)- you can read about their evaluation of the first phase of the Yes We Can! project and their insights.
Thanks for contacting "Ask an Advisor". Its good that you are thinking about health more broadly defined. That is certainly how we think of it here, and the evidence is now clear that social conditions play a powerful role in health. I'd look to the field of public health for international literature on "Social Determinants of Health"(SDOH). One of the best books on this topic is Michael Marmot and Richard Wilkinson's book "Social Determinants of Health". The World Health Organization's Commission on SDOH also has a great website that is an invaluable resource. Their publication "The Solid Facts" has a wealth of information that can help you make your case. Thanks again for contacting Ask and Advisor, and let us know if you have other questions. ~Scot
Thanks for contacting Ask and Advisor. There are lots of available resources for engaging youth in change efforts. See for example: the Forum for Youth Investment. One of their current initiatives is partnering with the America's Promise Alliance to increase public awareness of the dropout and college-readiness crisis and to develop prevention efforts. Also see The Innovation Center for Community and Youth Development For general community engagement info, the CDC has a good resource guide available here: CDC Principles of Community Enagement. Lastly, you may find Toolbox chapters 1 & 17 helpful as you develop your ideas. Best of luck!
Thanks for contacting Ask and Advisor. Your primary goal initially is to build and establish good relationships and hear about each others assets and concerns. Establishing and maintaining a NW group is really about building community. For practical tools regarding what to do in meetings, see USAonWatch.org. You can also find some helpful tips for leading groups in chapter 16 of the Toolbox. Best of luck with your efforts. ~Scot
Thanks for contacting Ask an Advisor. It is great that you are considering an Asset-based approach to this planning process. First off, the Kretzman & McKnight's Asset-based Community Development Institute is an incredible resource. As far as examples, here are two worth reviewing: In Edmonton, Alberta in 1994 an arm of the Capital Health Authority known as the Community Development Office (CDO) was part of a new movement toward community-centered health and in search of a community eager to actively participate in shared responsibility and local action for their own health and well-being. Following the principles of Kretzmann and McKnight?s (1993) ABCD, the team of community members and practitioners worked toward learning new ways to make Glenwood a more active and energized community. They set out to map the community assets by asking the question: ?what supports for health do you have, and would you be willing to share with the citizens of your community?? Dedrick, A., Mitchell, G., Miyagawa, M., & Roberts, S. (1997). From model to reality ? Community capacity building and asset mapping. Spruce Grove, Alberta: MAGJS Publishing. Another major ABCD project, known as ?Beyond Welfare? started in a small county of 74,000 people in central Iowa. It was, and is currently, designed to eliminate poverty in Story County by 2020 and to accomplish this goal, ?Beyond Welfare is building relationships across divisions of class, ethnicity, and race, which exist between marginalized groups with insufficient income and groups with sufficient income to achieve their purposes in life? Aigner, S.M., Raymond, V.J., & Smidt, L.J. (2002). ?Whole community organizing? for the 21st century. Journal of the Community Development Society, 33, 86-106. Best of luck! ~Scot
Welcome Simon! For reading materials, please click on our Table of Contents. It contains useful information about all phases of community development. Any of it can be printed out for your use. We assume you will have to adapt some of the possibilities to fit cultures in Malawi, and urge you to feel free to do that. You might also click on our Workstation tab. It will take you to information provided by organizations that have used some of the tools. We hope CTB resources are helpful in your very important effort, and invite you to make use of any that are relevant. Best wishes.
Thanks for your question, Devi. I cannot offer specific leads, but I encourage you to review the core competencies 1, 2, 3, and 5 in our list of core competencies. Those may be helpful in your own planning process. Best wishes for a successful project.
Hi Sandy, You ask a challenging question, because it is not clear to me whether you are focused upon evaluating how much subsequent training the trainers do, or how much progress their trainees make in learning new reading skills. Once you decide that, the evaluation process may get easier to define. Take a look at our core competency 12: Evaluating the Initiative. Also consider, under our Table of Contents, Part D, chapters 11 and 12; and Part J, chapters 36 to 39. You might also click on the Work Station sign-in tab to identify other organizations that might be active in a similar effort. Thanks for asking, and best of luck with your project!
Hi Connie, This is a very important area, and we are glad you are working on it. We suggest that you click on our "Work Station sign-in" for links to a variety of projects, some of which may be relevant to your needs. In addition, please look at our Table of Contents, Part C, chapters 6 and 7, especially chapter 7. We hope this is helpful and apologize for the delay in responding. Best wishes for success in your effort.
Hey, thanks for the question. Sounds like you have a lot of work ahead of you. Look through the resources in part D of the toolbox - specifically Chapter8. The CTB is not really able to assist with finding resources. Good luck!. ~Scot
Hey thanks for your question. Part B in the toolbox gives you some ideas for assessing needs and developing strategies. You can also find some general information on the Logical Framework Analysis approach here. here
Hello, and thanks for your question. Have a look at Chapter3 in the community toolbox. This should help you as you plan a needs assessment specific to your hospital context. Good luck!
Hey, thanks for the question. Its always a challenge to try to accurately measure the impact of an online experience. Check out the toolbox for some general steps to evaluation. Then, when you are ready to think about your tool or survey, you might read more on the "General Self-Efficacy Scale" to see if you can adapt these items for your purpose. One article to check out can be found HERE. Also, some new research on "online communities of practice' is beginning to emerge. You might find this article useful - Johnson, C.M. (2001). A survey of current research on online communities of practice. Internet and Higher Education, 4, 45-60. Good Luck! ~Scot
Its difficult to know exactly what you mean by working groups. It sounds like you may have an existing organization and you want to create smaller teams to help move some ideas to action. If so, you may find the information in useful in thinking about how to organize these. Of course, its always best to start with the people who are most energized and passionate about the work to be done. That way, the group is more able to make progress without needing much external influence. Good luck!
Hi Debra, We don't specifically address your question, but I think you might find some helpful points in our Table of Contents, section H, chapter 27, #8. It focuses on multicultural collaborations and has several important suggestions about processes that can lead to successful community meetings. Thanks for asking, and best of success in your effort.
Unfortunately, no. Feel free to print hardcopies of whatever you need from that section.
I do not have a direct answer to your question, but I suggest that you refer to our Connect With Others section for links to community development organizations that may be able to help, or to provide good leads to organizations similar to yours. I wish I knew a more direct answer (I am in a metropolitan area), and I especially wish you success in your important effort. Thanks for contacting CTB, and feel free to use or adapt any of the resources on this site.
I didn?t know the answer to your question, so I went looking on Google. I searched for ?small town home health services? and found a few apparently relevant links at the top of the resulting list. I wish I could offer more, but I hope this is helpful. Thanks for contacting CTB. Given the relatively higher proportion of aged individuals in many small towns, yours is an important effort.
Hi Billy, Thanks for contacting Community Tool Box. Let me refer you to the Table of Contents link on our opening page. Look under Part D, chapters 8 - 12, and you will find that chapter 9 directly addresses your question, and the other chapters focus on important activities for implementing the structure you choose. Good luck on your endeavor, and thanks again for your question.
Hi Janice, I am going to have to refer you to the Foundation Center online, or other similar databases. CTB does not contain information about funding sources. Thanks anyway for your question, and best of luck in funding your project.
Hi Joan, We suggest that you start at the Center for Disease Control website and then check out youth development organization websites such as the Boys & Girls Clubs, Scouts, YM- and YWCA, etc. Our Links To Others page may connect you with other knowledgeable organizations. Thanks for contacting CTB.
Hi Angela, You might take a look at our Table of Contents, Part C, chapters 6 and 7. However, you are attempting to involve a specialized target group for funding support, which means that you have greater challenges to gain entry and build relationships within the industry. We suggest that you consider conducting some "information interviews" with music industry organizations: (1) seeking leads to individuals who have some personal interest and involvement with MEED people - perhaps within their own families. If possible, recruit a "champion" within the industry who can advocate for your cause. (2) Also, ask the industry people you interview to help you identify the most effective ways to present your cause to the industry. We hope this is helpful and wish you well.
Hi Sonia, You have focused upon an area with important challenges and opportunities for those who complete nurse training. You might want to look at our Table of Contents, section C, chapters 6 and 7; also Section B, chapter 5. In addition, we suggest that you contact the schools of nursing in Indiana, the statewide hospital association, and the major hospital systems in Indianapolis. They all have a major stake in filling the need for nurses and may be quite willing to advise and help. Thanks for contacting CTB, and we wish you success in this important task.
Hi Roberta, Let me refer you to the Endorphin Power Company website, which I found via Google. It contains links to several other programs using the same concept. We do not have similar links.
Hi Lee, Thanks for your question. Take a look at several sections of our Table of Contents, particularly chapters 4 and 5 in Section B and both chapters in Section C. I assume you are already talking with the school district and with local youth development organizations. You might also want to involve the churches to build a broad community coalition. You will need to consider strategies for motivating parents as well as kids. Also, take a look at our Links With Others section for possible resources. Berea College might be another resource for consultation and possibly for mentors to help encourage kids to become more active. I know that Col. Sanders started his very successful business in Corbin. Perhaps KFC could assist with funding and consultation during your development process Childhood obesity is a very important public health issue. Best wishes for success in your effort.
Hi David, Thanks for contacting CTB. We assume you are interested in locating several different models, so your community can offer a variety of support options to recovering youth. No single model works for all individuals. You might want to look for family-focused/family systems approaches in addition to individual approaches. Please take a look at our Initiatives section to find some useful examples of recovery support models, some of which target youth. Also, search our Workstation box for "substance abuse recovery youth". That will generate both some examples, and access to some links that will help you search further. We recommend that you also take a look at SAMSA websites and pursue some of their links, if you have not done so. Thanks again for contacting CTB. We wish you success in developing a range of support alternatives for youth.
Hi Carol, Sorry, but we don't have much information about these resources. Please check our Workstation listings and our Connect With Others listings. If you do an internet search for "physical education government resources" you will get several leads.. We hope this helps. Thanks for contacting CTB and best wishes for your successful search
Hi Barbara, Beats me! I did a search within CTB and drew a blank, so I also went to Google and found the reference you probably refer to. It connected with another website that is not part of CTB. I will ask within our group, and if anyone knows where to find it, I will post a second reply. In the mean time, it appears we have both struck out. Thanks anyway for contacting CTB. Feel free to use any of our other materials in your planning process.
We know of no outside funding sources that support applications for 501c)(3) status. Possibly your university student fund. In most circumstances, the involved leaders either come up with the needed dollars out of pocket or do good old-fashioned grass-roots money raising activities to generate the needed dollars while building local awareness and support for addressing the need. In several ways, the hardest part of getting started is also the best way to raise awareness. Best of luck in your effort.
Thanks for your question. It really depends upon the needs and motivations of the specific communities involved. Rural communities may have some advantages because they are smaller and the leaders have more contact with each other. Also, if they are geographically isolated they may be struggling, literally, for survival. Although that can be true in urban neighborhoods, the political leadership can be more distant and less involved. You might want to take a look at our Workstation resources and Links With Others to get a sense of what some rural communities are doing.
Adequate internal controls are a key to exercising fiduciary responsibility, but CTB does not focus on internal fiscal administrative processes. Your best resources for resolving this disagreement probably are your Board's finance committee or executive committee, or the accounting firm that conducts your annual audit/financial review.
You might want to take a look at our Customer Services link and review the information about our Online Documentation and Support System. It is designed to address the questions you raise. Thank you for asking!
Thanks for your efforts to improve health status in your community. You might find information about assessment forms by looking at some of the projects listed in our Workstation and Links With Others tabs. However, I went to an internet search engine and entered "community health assessment." That generated several valuable and comprehensive leads. Good hunting!
There are three locations within CTB where you might find relevant information: Workstations, Links With Others and the Workstation Search box (Search the CTB). If you enter ?deaf children? in the Workstation Search box, it will generate one possible lead. If you enter ?collaborative learning? it will generate a number of possible leads. Although they may not involve hearing impaired children as subjects, you may find useful suggestions to aid in planning and implementing your project. Thanks for asking CTB, and for planning to address an important and underserved group of people.
We have reviewed our archives and do not find any feedback from users about whether or how they have chosen to use our tools to reduce domestic violence in their communities. We will consider whether to add a feedback page to CTB during future revisions. Sorry we can?t help you with this very important issue.
Good morning! If you are seeking a directory of relevant local organizations that a pediatrician might contact for referral purposes, we probably to not have what you are seeking. Consider asking your local United Way agencies for access to their local resource directories, often identified as HelpLine, Information And Referral, or similar name. Where these are available, you can then focus your own effort on educating physicians about the existence of United Way resource directories and how to use them. Also, you can concentrate your development efforts on filling in gaps in areas without United Way agencies. United Way might also help you develop a specifically focused resource guide of obesity-related resources. We suggest that it be made available online so pediatricians in more rural areas can access it easily Within CTB, take a look at our Links page. Food and Fitness for Children and Families might be relevant, and there are other possibilities. Also, click on our Workstation tab. Several of those resources might be useful. You will need to register (the usual simple process) to access the specific sites. An internet search on ?obesity resources? also yielded several possibilities. Thanks for contacting CTB, and when it is completed, please consider adding your road map to our Workstation page. We have had several requests for obesity program models.
Thanks for asking, but CTB does not have information on these fundamental social skills. Our focus is primarily upon general information about processes to involve people in community development/improvement. You might look at our Workstation Sign-in: Communities In Schools listings to see whether they can give you leads. Possibly "Enhancing Cultural Competence" under our Do the Work section may have some general ideas that are relevant. Your best bet, however, is to do an internet search on each of those specific skills. I Googled "giving compliments" and found several good leads.
This sounds like the title for a term paper, and is beyond the scope of CTB. If you have a specific question, please feel free to resubmit.
Please be aware that CTB does not function as a listserv, so your question only goes to the current Advisor. That said, please click on our Workstation Sign-in tab. Several of those organizations are working on community health improvement issues and may be relevant to your question. If you do not find what you are looking for there, we suggest an an internet search.
Thanks for your question. We strongly encourage you to consider getting started by talking with an academic counselor to clarify what sort of help you want to offer and to identify classes that will teach you skills needed to accomplish your goal. Your own good planning and preparation will pay dividends in the long run. Take a look at the core competencies listed with this answer. Adapt the ones that seem relevant to focus on your own development first.
If you want the event to have a shared sponsorship with other organizations, it is probably best to develop your general outline and then talk about it with other potential partners. Those interested may value the opportunity to fully develop the event plan, and will have a greater sense of ownership. For suggestions about how you might proceed, take a look at our information on developing partnerships and coalitions; also developing strategic and action plans. Thanks for contacting CTB, and we wish you success in this project.
Thanks for your question, Molly. The current advisor (me) does not know of tools that have been used in other countries, but does suggest: (1) Enter Asset Mapping in our Search CTB field. You will get a number of hits, most of which look practical and may well generalize to Jordan. (2) Ask your contacts in Jordan to access CTB and search CTB as above. Ask them which tools appear practical to them and best fit their training needs. (3) When their list comes back to you, ask them what technologies they already have available. Don't assume. (4) Build your training accordingly. We wish you well and hope this reply is helpful.
Please do a search for "speakers" on our Search CTB field. One of the items that will appear on the resulting list gives a lot of practical information about speakers bureaus, and some of that information also can help provide ideas about how to recruit a speaker to promote your issue. We also think that the local community "grapevine" is a good resource for finding speakers. If you have not already done so, consider asking other interested persons and other organizations focused on your issue to name some people who have been effective speakers about your issue. If potential speakers charge a fee, offer to share the expense with other interested organizations, and give them credit as sponsors. Thanks for contacting CTB, and best wishes for a successful effort
Courage, Sarah! This is a great question that raises several levels of response: First, take a look at our Table of Contents, particularly Parts B and C. Other Parts may become relevant as you proceed. Second, decide whether you want to design and develop something that meets the needs of your supervisors or of the street-involved diabetics. (I take it from your preliminary rant that you prefer the latter!) Third, consider hiring some street-involved persons with Diabetes as consultants to help you design an education program that would be more meaningful to them. You should pay them in some way: money, healthy food, or whatever. Payment acknowledges their expertise and encourages more participation. The drop in center staff and the nurses you mentioned can help identify and recruit street-involved persons with Diabetes. Fourth, Gather those persons into a focus group, explain your purpose, and ask them to talk about what information gleaned from their own experience with Diabetes onset, recognition, and management might have helped them and might be really helpful to others. Fifth, listen to them very actively, and do a lot of reflecting back what they say, so they know you are listening, and so you can get confirmation that you have heard accurately. Take notes. Sixth, ask them to suggest the best ways (modalities) to deliver the information to other street-involved people. (A good brainstorming exercise.) Seventh, Gather them again at a later date and ask them to review and comment on whatever materials and strategies you developed from their suggestions. (See also the Table of Contents section on developing strategic and action plans. By that point, you will have developed and delivered a diabetes education program (with and to your street-level consultants) that may or may not be different and unexpected, but possibly more relevant to the target audience. Eighth, Get your supervisor's permission before you proceed. You might offer to help write a grant application later, to evaluate the program.
CTB does not list specific tools for rapid financial assessment; only more general information about community needs assessment processes. We invite you to review those chapters by clicking on our Table of Contents. You might also look at the projects described under our Workstation Sign In field to see if any of them have attempted such an assessment. Beyond CTB, you might try The Urban Institute website.
Hi Anne, I am sorry that we can't offer specific help with your challenge. Take a look at our Table of Contents and Workstation, but we don't think you will find a solution there. All we can think of is to ask your county Assessor if county property tax records can generate such a list, and whether the identities of taxpayers can be released for research purposes. Best wishes for finding a practical solution. If the above isn't possible or legal, we suggest you discuss the sample difficulties with the organization that needs the survey information and determine whether it is feasible/useful to proceed.
The key decisions about goals envolve from identifying what outcomes your project might accomplish that can be measured in some objective way. What are you trying to accomplish, and how will you know what is actually accomplished? Especially if the measurement time frame is short or there is little or no real opportunity to do follow-up, keep the goals practical and immediate. The general goal is to strengthen certain parenting skills, and probably the most useful outcomes are that participants can demonstrate those skills in some way by the end of the class. Take a look at the core competencies listed with this response and then at our table of contents. Part of your question indicates that you want to teach parent strategies useful within a military culture, which is why we included cultural competence on the list.
test
It sounds like you are off to a great start. Congratulations! As you consider getting the community involved, you might begin with a series of questions: 1. Are there groups of people (teens, college students, community leaders, all adults, etc.) that you would like to become involved? 2. Are there organizations that you would like to become involved? 3. What type of involvement are you seeking (volunteer time, access to facilities, financial support, etc.)? 4. Are there networks that you have access to that might reach the people or organizations? 5. Do you have any incentives for their involvement? The list could go on, but the idea is apparent: develop a plan to seek community involvement. Good luck!