• Chapter 4: Vision and Mission Statements

    • Chapter 4: Vision and Mission Statements

    (Nagy & Fawcett, n.d.-a, p. 8)

    The first part of the planning process is creating your organization's vision and mission statements. These processes explain your group's aspirations in a concise manner and provide a basis for your strategic plan.

    WHAT IS A VISION STATEMENT?

    Your vision is your dream. It's what your organization believes are the ideal conditions for your community, how things would look if the issue were perfectly addressed.

    Vision statements are short phrases or sentences that convey your community's hopes for the future. Most vision statements have these in common:

    Below are some examples of vision statements:         

    WHAT IS A MISSION STATEMENT?

    To ground your vision in practical terms, you need a mission statement to describe what the group is doing and why. An example is "Promoting care and caring at the end of life through coalitions and advocacy." Mission statements are similar to vision statements; they look at the big picture. However, they're more concrete and more action-oriented. Your vision statement should inspire people to dream; your mission statement should inspire them to action. Below are some guiding principles about mission statements:

    The following are examples of effective mission statements:

    WHY SHOULD YOU CREATE VISION AND MISSION STATEMENTS?

    These statements can help your organization focus and remind members what is important. They also give others a snapshot of what your group wants to accomplish. People can learn quickly about your organization, which is helpful when you are recruiting others to join your effort. The process of developing vision and mission statements builds motivation because members will believe in something more completely if they helped develop it. A clear vision statement inspires community members to action. A compelling mission statement converts the broad dreams of your vision into more specific, action-oriented terms and enhances your organization's image as being competent and professional.

    HOW DO YOU CREATE VISION AND MISSION STATEMENTS?

    LEARN WHAT IS IMPORTANT TO PEOPLE IN YOUR COMMUNITY

    Define the issues that matter most to people in your community in one of these ways:

    Conduct "public forums" or "listening sessions" with members of the community to gather ideas about how they would like to see the community transformed.

    These meetings are usually led by facilitators, who guide a discussion of the community's strengths, problems, and what people wish the community was like. A  transcript of the session provides a basis for subsequent planning.

    Hold focus groups with interested people, including community leaders, people affected by the issues, businesses, church leaders, and others.

    Focus groups are smaller and more intimate, comprised of people with similar backgrounds, who will talk openly. Focus groups use facilitators and recorders to focus and document discussion. You may hold focus groups with several different groups of people to get the most holistic view of the issue at hand.

    Obtain interviews with people in leadership positions, including local politicians, school administrators, and other key leaders, about needs in your community.

    DECIDE WHAT TO ASK

    Below are sample questions you might use to gather information:

    The facilitator should encourage everyone to share their most hopeful and positive ideas, regardless of how practical. To articulate a vision of a better community, encourage everyone to participate.

    DECIDE ON THE GENERAL FOCUS OF YOUR ORGANIZATION

    What topic is most important to your community? At what level will your organization work -- in one school or neighborhood, or in the whole city or state?

    Consider lessons learned from the community and decide the best direction for your organization. For the best results, open this discussion up to everyone. Reach consensus on your final vision and mission statements.

    DECIDE HOW YOU WILL USE YOUR VISION AND MISSION STATEMENTS

    Below are a few examples:


    Develop Goals and SMART Objectives

    Goals

    Goals are broad and provide a general overview of what needs to be achieved. They can be a breakdown of your mission statement, listing everything you would like to accomplish. From the list of goals, you can create your objectives.

    Examples of Goals:

    (Nagy & Fawcett, n.d.-b, p. 8)

    SMART Objectives

    Objectives are the specific measurable results of the initiative. Objectives specify how much of what will be accomplished by when. Most groups will develop objectives in all three basic types of objectives:

     Objectives should be S.M.A.R.T., meaning that they meet the following criteria:


     EXAMPLES OF VAGUE OBJECTIVES MADE SMART:


    COLLECT BASELINE DATA ON THE ISSUES TO BE ADDRESSED

    Baseline data are the facts and figures that tell you how big the problem is and may measure community attitudes towards a problem.

    This information is important because it is the starting point against which you can measure how much progress you have made. Baseline data is helpful when originally asking for funding and it can show what you have accomplished later by comparing data again after your programs have been implemented.

    DECIDE WHAT IS REALISTIC FOR YOUR ORGANIZATION TO ACCOMPLISH

    Examine your resources and talk to experts about what is possible and likely. You might ask other agencies who have done similar things. Set objectives that are both achievable and challenging.

    SET THE OBJECTIVES FOR YOUR ORGANIZATION OR INITIATIVE

    Below is an example of objectives about preventing adolescent substance use:

    USE YOUR OBJECTIVES TO DEFINE YOUR ORGANIZATION'S STRATEGIES

    With your objectives, you are ready to develop the strategies that will make them possible. 


    Evaluation planning of process, impact and outcome 

    (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, n.d.)

    Before implementing your program, you need to plan how it will be evaluated during the planning phase. With your evaluation plans, include a plan for what will need to be documented, so you will be able to show improvement over time. Your evaluation plans will use the mission, goals, and objectives as part of establishing metrics for success in your evaluation plans. 

    Many projects have ended with the wish that they had been keeping better track of the progress. All three of the evaluation types below need to be planned as part of the program planning process:


    Behavior Change Theory Overview

    Now that we know what needs to change and have set goals and objectives, we have to figure out HOW we are going to accomplish these goals. Specifically, we have to determine how we are going to help people change their behavior.  

    There are many different theories that help us understand why people engage in specific behaviors. These theories can act as a framework for our intervention. They explain behavior. We can create interventions based on the constructs (the building blocks or elements) of a theory. 

    For example, the Health Belief Model is one of the most widely used theories. Its major constructs include perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived barriers, perceived benefits, cues to action, and self-efficacy. We can use the information that we discovered in our needs assessment to help us understand which construct needs improvement. Maybe we discovered that our teenage population does not believe that they are susceptible to developing cancer from the Human Papilloma Virus. If this was the case we could, in part, create interventions that look to increase their perception about how susceptible they are to developing cancer.  

    This is just one example of how a theory can help us create a program that will be as effective as possible. Without the framework of a theory, we really are just guessing that our intervention will bring about any change. 



    Evidence-based Interventions (Best Practices) 

    In public health, we do not often create interventions on our own. We want to utilize evidence-based interventions or programs. These are programs that have already been shown to be effective. They have empirical evidence that shows they worked in other locations.  

    There are many websites where you can search to find evidence-based programs.  Thecommunityguide.org is one of the best. Not only can you search and find such programs, it will also tell you how strong the evidence is that this program will work.  

    You will want to locate a program that matches the needs of your specific population. Remember all the hard work you did during the needs assessment. You need to find a program that is not only about your health issue but that is working to make the changes that you identified as most important. 

    Once you have identified a program that meets the basic needs of your community, you can adapt it to better fit your needs or you can adopt it right out if it is a perfect fit.  

    Spending the time to find a great program will ensure that you will succeed in your efforts to create change. 


    Choosing Program Interventions

    Many different types of interventions or activities might solve a problem. The most important consideration is that the intervention or program you choose needs to be adapted to your specific target population and setting. An intervention could be any of the following statements:

    (Rabinowitz, n.d.)

    The Parkville Heart Health Coalition was concerned. A survey of families in the area had shown that most children spent their time watching TV or playing video games and not getting exercise. Research had shown that introducing children to sports could foster a long-term commitment to regular physical activity. The Coalition recognized this as a “best practice.” However, they needed the cooperation of the schools and local officials to teach the sports and provide facilities. How could they go about convincing them? Was there a best practice for persuading a community to adopt good solutions?

    WHAT IS A BEST PRACTICE?

    A best practice may be a particular method, or it may be a whole program or intervention. “Best practice” status may be conferred by a professional association or by published research results. In general, a method or program gains such status by being the following:

    You can also research Promising Practices, which are practices that have not been tested or in existence for a very long time, but seem to work. In reviewing practices, keep the following points in mind:

    Best practices have these characteristics:

    WHY PROMOTE THE USE OF BEST PRACTICES?

    Employing a program that has been found successful increases the chances that you will accomplish your goals. Other advantages of a best practice include the following:

    WHERE DO YOU FIND BEST PRACTICES?

    To find best practices, try one or more of the following:

     USING THE INTERNET TO FIND BEST OR PROMISING PRACTICES

    Google Scholar can be accessed by clicking on the pull-down arrow next to “more” at the top of the Google homepage. Searching for “best practices violence prevention,” for example, yields 235,000 results. The first 20 or 30 are likely to be among the most useful.

    SEARCH FOR APPROPRIATE BEST PRACTICES.

    Now that you’ve defined what you’re looking for, it’s time to find out what’s available. Once you’ve found several best practice options that address your issue, narrow down your search by weeding out the ones that aren’t appropriate for your community, aren’t sensitive to the culture of your population, or aren’t aimed at the outcomes you want.

    PROVIDE THOSE WHO WILL IMPLEMENT BEST PRACTICES WITH THE NECESSARY TRAINING AND SUPPORT.

    People should understand both the assumptions behind the program, or method, and the theory that explains why it works. They need to receive specific training to do the work of the program. Ongoing support is also needed:

    (community tool box, n.d.-b, p. 46)

    MAINTAIN THE COMMUNITY’S COMMITMENT TO BEST PRACTICES.

    The Ten Point Coalition, a group of ministers and others, convened in the early 1990’s to address youth violence in Boston neighborhoods most stricken by its results. By reaching out to youth in the neighborhoods and providing alternatives to violence in a number of ways, the group was instrumental, along with a city-wide effort, in drastically reducing both the overall homicide rate and the murder rate among those under 18. As the violence subsided, so did participation by the members of the Coalition. By 2002, the murder rate, particularly among youth, was climbing again. Without the continuing work of the ministers and other concerned adults, a new generation of young people was turning to violence again.


    Optional Resources:


    Adapting Community Interventions for Different Cultures and Communities

    (Wadud & Berkowitz, n.d.)

    WHAT DO WE MEAN BY "DIFFERENT CULTURAL TRADITIONS?"

    Culture refers to a set of behaviors, habits, roles, and norms that apply to a particular group. A potluck supper, blood-pressure screening, or immunization drive might be a terrific success in one setting; while the same event could fail if not successfully adapted to another setting.

    WHY SHOULD YOU ADAPT INTERVENTIONS TO FIT DIFFERENT CULTURAL TRADITIONS?

    A well-adapted intervention can increase the chances for success, as well as the following:

    HOW SHOULD YOU ADAPT INTERVENTIONS TO FIT DIFFERENT CULTURAL TRADITIONS?

    (community tool box, n.d.-a)


    References


    Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). Types of Evaluation. https://www.cdc.gov/std/Program/pupestd/Types%20of%20Evaluation.pdf

    community tool box. (n.d.-a). Chapter 8. Developing a Strategic Plan. Community Tool Box. https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/structure/strategic-planning

    community tool box. (n.d.-b). Chapter 46, Section 6. Sharing Positions and Other Resources. Community Tool Box. https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/sustain/long-term-sustainability/share-positions/main

    Habitat for Humanity. (n.d.). Bringing people together to build homes, communities, and hope. Habitat for Humanity. https://www.hfhsloco.org/

    Nagy, J., & Fawcett, S. (n.d.-a). Chapter 8, Section 2. Proclaiming Your Dream: Developing Vision and Mission Statements. Community Tool Box. https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/structure/strategic-planning/vision-mission-statements/main

    Nagy, J., & Fawcett, S. (n.d.-b). Chapter 8, Section 3. Creating Objectives. Community Tool Box. https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/structure/strategic-planning/create-objectives/main

    Rabinowitz, P. (n.d.). Chapter 19, Section 6. Promoting the Adoption and Use of Best Practices. Community Tool Box. https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/analyze/choose-and-adapt-community-interventions/using-best-practices/main

    Wadud, E., & Berkowitz, B. (n.d.). Chapter 19, Section 4. Adapting Community Interventions for Different Cultures and Communities. Community Tool Box. https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/analyze/choose-and-adapt-community-interventions/cultural-adaptation/main

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    Access it online or download it at https://books.byui.edu/pubh_390_readings/chapter_4_vision_and_mission_statements.