Stage IIb --Recruiting CHPP Participants
13. The coordinator and the Steering Committee members invite possible participants to the
meetings. This can be done by telephone, e-mail, and/or written invitation through the mail.
If members of the steering committee have personal or professional relationships with
invitees, they can make the initial contact explaining the process and expanding on the one
page concept paper. Follow-up with invitees is critical to the success of the process. Rule
one of community organizing - People do not go to programs, people go to people. Each
invitee must feel vital to the process and the coordinator must spend time and energy
assuring invitees that the CHPP process is viewed by the community as “the IN thing”.
Each invitee and especially key people may need to be contacted multiple times to get them
to participate in the 10-12 week-program. This means that the process is not for the faint of
heart and also why it should not be assigned to a volunteer.
DO: make the CHHP process inclusive rather than exclusive. For example, you should
include minorities, all economic levels, professionals and non-professionals, men and
women, geographic diversity, movers and shakers in the community, health
professionals, government (especially those who are leaders or decision-makers related to
the issue), and the “rabble rousers.”. This broad-based involvement is inherent to the
participatory planning approach. (Caution: some folks have indicated they will not work
with others. If so, go cautiously.)
DO: remember that people like to be included at the beginning of the process. As you
meet with the Steering Committee, encourage the group to keep searching for the core
decision-makers and the fringes of the community. Be sure that the people who can
benefit the process are invited and included. Remember, for the process to work it must
be win/win. This means that the process must serve the people and organizations
involved as well as having the participants serve the process. The best organizing
strategies serve all. For this process to evolve as designed, it must be participatory. Do
invite the “troublemaker,” the overweight, the cigarette smoker. If his/her energies can
be focused and transformed into achieving the goal, the community’s ability to keep
moving in positive directions will be enhanced (“rabble rousers” can be great allies).
SPECIAL NOTE: Invite family members who reside in the same household as the
invitee to come to the sessions and be involved in the full process. This can include, a spouse,
teen youths (use your judgement on an individual basis), or seniors residing in the home. The
rationale behind this is that there is an adult in each home who acts as the informal “organizer”
for the family, does the shopping, cooking, and makes the majority of the health decisions in
the family. This person needs to see the value in living a healthy lifestyle and must be included
in the community health participatory planning sessions. When the family takes on lifestyle
changes as a unit, the changes are more likely to become permanent. In addition, it makes the
effort a “family affair,” a joint effort, and means that family members are not separated from
each other for one more evening (if your sessions are in the evening) as so many busy family
are these days. |
RECRUITMENT STRATEGIES
No matter how good the plan, the Coordinator and Steering Committee will have to work
very hard to make the process work. The best possible program can be planned, with the best
speakers (who serve as facilitators of understanding and discussion), plenty of parking, great seats,
adequate lighting, and still the process may fail. Why? Because the right people are not present.
Keep in mind that people will come to important gatherings with “important” people. Make
your Community Health Participatory Planning “the IN thing” in the community. Recruitment is 90% of the
future success of the program. We have found that if people come, they are sold. So how do you get them
in the door?
• If at all possible, give your effort a name; an appealing, catchy, I-want-to-be-a-part-of-that-no-atterwhat
name.
• Advertisements in local newspapers. You are looking for volunteers. Along with inviting the VIPs
on your list, open the door to the community to participate. This often brings the worker bee and
people with real insight into what the population faces on a day-to-day basis. Use information from the
concept paper to develop advertisements for the paper. This does not have to be paid advertising. You
might be able to get your program listed in community events or a writer may be willing to work with
you on a story for the paper. Often, local newspapers are looking for news and will print exactly what
you give them.
• Flyers. Design or have someone else design a creative flyer (possibly leading with a question) and
distribute it at community events, service club meetings, church functions, school functions, etc. Be
sure to include a phone number and e-mail address for individuals seeking additional information. Use
information from the concept paper to develop the flyer.
• Posters. A poster can be a larger version of the flyer. Perhaps a more eye-catching poster could be
developed. Place this in businesses, social service agencies, schools, etc. Use information from the
concept paper to develop posters. Be consistent with your message.
• Presentations to appropriate community organizations. The coordinator can give 10-minute
informational presentations. A steering committee member. who is a member of a group, could deliver
the invitations. Use information from the concept paper to develop your presentation. Leave written
flyers for group members.
• Personal invitations to key leaders and decision makers (administrators, natural helpers, elected
officials, and others in positions of authority and/or influence). This invitation can come from the
whole steering committee or perhaps the Mayor or another prominent public figure will agree to sign
the letter. Do not be afraid to ask. Also, do not overlook the power of an organization’s letterhead.
Give consideration to what and who will get the most attention in your community. Use information
from the concept paper to develop the invitation.
• Special effort must be focused on laborers, lower-income, and minority groups, who are typically
underrepresented in health programs and who are often among the most needy related to your goals.
For this reason, many programs and campaigns are not successful. Review your list and be sure that
your steering committee and CHPP participants are representative of the community you hope to serve.
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Stage II Exercise 10: Who will you invite to the planning meetings? The steering
committee will help you come up with names. OVER INVITE. Plan on 30% turning you
down or telling you they will come and then not showing up. To some extent, the size of
your meeting room will determine how many people to invite. Again, if you have phone,
address, and e-mail, add it here – you will not have to do it later. List at least 10 people who
you will invite.
|
| Name |
Agency/Job Title |
Phone/Address/E-mail |
1. ________________________________________________________________________________
2. ________________________________________________________________________________
3. ________________________________________________________________________________
4. ________________________________________________________________________________
5. ________________________________________________________________________________
6. ________________________________________________________________________________
7. ________________________________________________________________________________
8. ________________________________________________________________________________
9. ________________________________________________________________________________
10. _______________________________________________________________________________
11. _______________________________________________________________________________
12. _______________________________________________________________________________
|
Stage II Exercise 11: List five key places (businesses, agencies, schools) in your
community where you can distribute flyers inviting folks to the CHPP.
1. _______________________________________________________________________
2. _______________________________________________________________________
3. _______________________________________________________________________
4. _______________________________________________________________________
5. _______________________________________________________________________
List five businesses, agencies, schools where you can display posters in your community.
1. _______________________________________________________________________
2. _______________________________________________________________________
3. _______________________________________________________________________
4. _______________________________________________________________________
5. _______________________________________________________________________
List five community organizations where you can make a presentation inviting individuals to
the CHHP process.
1. _______________________________________________________________________
2. _______________________________________________________________________
3. _______________________________________________________________________
4. _______________________________________________________________________
5. _______________________________________________________________________
|
Stage II Exercise 12: Revisit your list of possible invitees you listed under Stage II
Exercise 10. Using the following system: e-mail (E), mailed invitation (MI), personal call
(PC), personal visit (PV), code how you will make your initial contact with each person.
Each person may have more than one code. If your code includes a personal (P) be sure to
include the name of the person responsible for making the contact.
Now, go through the list one more time and code it for an additional method of contact. See
box below for an explanation. |
A person must be
EXPOSED
to a message or an idea
at least 5 TIMES
before they begin
to even pay attention to it.
So, when pitching an idea
(or seeking involvement in a group),
do not be deterred if it takes
several appeals.
It’s human nature. |
Plan for an evaluation for your CHPP. A simple to use instrument is the Healthy
Lifestyle Questionnaire (Appendix D). Your evaluation will be designed to measure the impact
of your efforts. It also can be extremely helpful in assessing the groups progress and help
determine strengths, weaknesses and overall effectiveness. In addition, the evaluation results can
be used to help elicit support for your efforts, as well s future health promotion programs.
In addition to the Health Risk Appraisal and Healthy Lifestyle Questionnaire, measures
of social capital, wherein local residents and organizations mobilize processes and conditions
that lead to accomplishment of a goal of mutual social benefit, are helpful. A simple scale for
measuring social capital is provided in Appendix E. Change is assessed by comparing overall
scores on the measures taken at different times, e.g., from Session 1, at the end of the CHPP, and
at the end of 1 year, 2 years, etc.
Stage II Exercise 13: What questions do you have? Is there anything unclear about
the process? We have attempted to cover the small details that can be the most frustrating
part of the process, however, we may have missed something. What comes to mind? Either
alone or in a group, discuss the 16 process detail tips and list your questions and concerns.
What step or detail has been left out in order for you to completely understand the process?
1. _______________________________________________________________________
2. _______________________________________________________________________
3. _______________________________________________________________________
4. _______________________________________________________________________
5. _______________________________________________________________________
6. _______________________________________________________________________
7. _______________________________________________________________________
8. _______________________________________________________________________
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