Vocabulary 

• Best-Practice Interventions: “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 measurable, notably successful and replicable.

• Culture: A set of behaviors, habits, roles, and norms that apply to a particular group

• Evidence-based Interventions: These are interventions that have already been shown to be effective.  Evidence-based interventions have empirical evidence that shows they have worked in other locations.

• Goals: Goals are broad and provide a general overview of what needs to be achieved.

• Mission Statements: Mission statements are similar to vision statements, in looking at the big picture. However, they're more concrete and action-oriented. Your vision statement should inspire people to dream; your mission statement should inspire them to action.

• Objectives: Objectives specify what a project will accomplish and by when.

• SMART Objectives: Objectives should be S.M.A.R.T.

• Specific: Tell what is to be achieved. Use one action verb.

• Measurable: Information concerning the objective must be collectable.

• Achievable: Success is feasible.

• Relevant to the mission: They fit in with the overall vision and mission of the group.

• Timed: There is a stated deadline when they will be achieved.

Mission Statements

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

The first part of the planning process is creating your organization's mission statement. This process explains your group's aspirations in a concise manner and provides a basis for your strategic plan.

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 look at the big picture, and inspire people to action. Below are some guiding principles about mission statements:

• Concise: Usually in one sentence.

• Outcome-oriented: Mission statements explain the basic outcomes your organization is working to achieve.

• Inclusive: Broad statements about your group's key goals.

The following are examples of effective mission statements:

• Promoting community health and development by connecting people, ideas, and resources. (Community Tool Box)

• The California Coalition Against Sexual Assault (CALCASA) provides leadership, vision, and resources to rape crisis centers, individuals, and other entities committed to ending sexual violence.

• Seeking to put God’s love into action, Habitat for Humanity brings people together to build homes, communities, and hope.

Why Should You Create a Mission Statement? 

This statement can help your organization focus and remind members what is important. Mission statements 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 mission statements builds motivation because members will believe in something more completely if they helped develop it. A compelling mission statement converts the broad dreams of your vision into specific, action-oriented terms, and enhances your organization's image as being competent and professional.

How Do You Create Mission Statements? 

Learn what is important to people in the 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, composed 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.

How Do You Decide What To Ask? 

Below are sample questions you might use to gather information:

• What is your dream or vision for our community?

• What would you like to see change?

• What do you see as the community's major problems and assets?

• What would success look like?

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 mission statement.

Decide How You Will Use Your Mission Statements 

Below are a few examples:

• Add mission statements to your letterhead or stationary.

• Use mission statements on your website and in your press kit.

• Give away T-shirts, or bookmarks, or other small gifts with mission statements on them.

• Use mission statements when you give interviews.

• Display mission statements on the cover of your annual report.

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

Examples of Goals: 

• Improve health by helping smokers quit.

• Reduce the rate of teens who start smoking.

SMART Objectives

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

• Program objectives provide the groundwork stating what will be accomplished.

• Behavioral objectives look at people’s behaviors and the results. For example, a neighborhood improvement group might develop an objective for having an increased amount of home repair taking place (the behavior) and fewer houses with broken or boarded-up windows (the result).

• Community-level outcome objectives are the result of behavior change in many people instead of an individual level. For example, the same neighborhood group might have an objective of increasing the percentage of people living in the community with adequate housing as a community-level outcome objective. 

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

• Specific: Tell what is to be achieved. Use one action verb.

• Measurable: Information concerning the objective must be collectable.

• Achievable: Success is feasible.

• Relevant to the mission: They fit in with the overall vision and mission of the group.

• Timed: There is a stated deadline by  when they will be achieved.

 EXAMPLES OF VAGUE OBJECTIVES MADE SMART:

• Specific: Young people will learn about risks of smoking. Teens in Lincoln School will attend a class on the risks of smoking.

• Measurable: People will understand smoking is dangerous. Students will list three risks of smoking.

• Achievable: We will eliminate teen smoking. Teens at Lincoln School will be taught about smoking.

• Relevant to the mission: Teens will be happy and healthy. Teens will be tobacco-free.

• Timed: We will offer classes on tobacco. We will hold three classes on tobacco by the end of July.

• Overall objective example: We will address teen smoking. Three classes on tobacco will be held at Lincoln School by the end of July, and post-tests will show students can list at least three risks of smoking.

Collect Baseline Date 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 initially 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 both 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:

• By the year 2024, the use of tobacco among 12-17 year olds will be reduced by 40%.

• By the year 2024, the use of alcohol among 12-17 year olds will be reduced by 50%.

• By the year 2024, the use of marijuana among 12-17 year olds will be reduced by 70%.

• By the year 2024, the use of cocaine among 12-17 year olds will be reduced by 80%.

Use Your Objectives to Define Your Organization’s Strategies With your objectives, you are ready to develop the strategies that will make them possible. 

Levels of Influence

When choosing strategies and interventions, remember that health behaviors are influenced by a wide range of factors. It is important to consider different influencing factors when creating or choosing health promotion interventions. Behaviors can be changed by influencing a person on any of the following levels:

• Individual and intrapersonal factors: knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, personality.

• Interpersonal factors: interactions with others such as social support

• Institutional and organizational factors: rules, regulations, policies and informal structures

• Community factors: social norms among individuals, groups and organizations

Public policy factors: local, state, and federal policies and laws that regulate disease prevention, early detection and management.

Different interventions influence your target population at different levels, from targeting the target population’s attitudes and beliefs to influencing them through family and friends to influencing their behaviors through policy changes. By knowing which level of influence is most influential in impacting your target population’s behaviors (usually identified as part of a needs assessment), you can better select or develop interventions that will have a greater impact in changing your target population’s behaviors and environmental influencers. 

(Ecological Models, n.d.)

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 can 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:

•  Health communication, such as a media campaign for cancer screening awareness.

• Health policy, such as adopting a local ordinance against smoking in parks.

• Health education, such as teaching people to manage diabetes.

• Environmental change, such as building more sidewalks and bike paths in a community to encourage physical activity and reduced car emissions.

• Coalition work, such as bringing together agencies to collaborate on a health program.

(Rabinowitz, n.d.)

 Following is an example of a community group considering an intervention:

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:

• Measurable. That means that its goals are clear and that progress toward them can be measured.

• Notably successful. The program gains good results and more progress than most others with similar goals.

• Replicable. The method or program is structured and documented clearly enough so that it can be reproduced elsewhere.

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:

• Appropriateness to your goals. Does the best practice in question actually address your specific goals?

• Fit with the philosophy of the organization that will use it.

• Availability of resources. Make certain you understand exactly what the best practice will require and that you can provide the necessary resources before you commit to using it.

• Cost-effectiveness. If a program works well but is too costly or time-consuming, it may not be a good choice. A program that works slightly less well but costs a third as much might be a better candidate.

Best practices have these characteristics:

• They are comprehensive, flexible, and responsive.

• They target the underlying causes in addition to the symptoms of an issue or problem.

• Their staff members are trained and supported to provide high-quality, responsive service.

• They foster strong staff and participant relationships based on mutual respect.

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:

• Easier to justify the work. Using a practice that has been shown to be effective can help gain community support.

• Increase the credibility of the organization. It shows not only that the organization is using a tested process, but that it made sure it’s doing the best job possible.

• Easier to get funding. Funders look more favorably on proposals that can demonstrate proven success.

• Removes the guesswork from planning and increases the chances that it will go smoothly.

• The originators of the practice may be available to consult on how to best implement it.

Where Do You Find the Best Practices? 

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

• The Internet.

• Networking with partner agencies.

• Libraries including those online.

• State and national professional organizations often give awards for best practices, or document them in journal articles and at conferences.

• International, state, and federal agencies. UNESCO, the U.S. Council of Mayors, HUD, and others have listings of "best practices" in programs they fund.

• Foundations and other private funders may list best practices, or may simply describe projects they fund.

• Academia. Local colleges and universities

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 to  30 results 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. People need to receive specific training to do the work of the program. Ongoing support is also needed:

(CTB, n.d.-a)

• Funding. Make sure adequate funding is available before you start.

• Volunteers. Volunteers also need training and supervision.

• Space. If funding is an issue, the possibility of shared space may be explored.

• Time. Allow time for experimentation and learning.

• The goodwill of local leaders and the community at large. Make sure that all those involved in a program feel the community supports their success.

Maintain the Community’s Commitment to Best Practices 

The Ten Point Coalition, a group of ministers and others, convened in the early 1990s 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.

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:

• Show respect for another culture's values and identity.

• Increase support and participation of your target community and its impact.

• Build future trust and cooperation across cultural lines.

How Should You Adapt Interventions to Fit Different Cultural Traditions? 

(CTB, n.d.-b)

• First, check your readiness and the readiness of the target group.

• Research about the cultural group in question:

• Census data, maps, and government documents.

•  Local reports and statistics.

• Hometown newspapers, including back issues.

• Articles on the cultural group you will be working with. (Have others tried the same intervention with this cultural group?)

• Talk to people in that cultural setting:

• Known experts on that culture.

• Key informants such as government officials, teachers, researchers, and religious leaders.

• Spend some time in the cultural setting.

• Propose your intervention idea to some people in that setting and ask for feedback. Does your listener think the intervention is a good idea? Will it work? What changes should be made?

• Take that feedback carefully into account and make any suggested changes.

• Find some people in that cultural community who will work with you to make the intervention happen.

• Begin planning and execution. 

References

CTB. (n.d.-a). 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

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

Ecological Models. (n.d.). Retrieved December 7, 2023, from https://www.ruralhealthinfo.org/toolkits/health-promotion/2/theories-and-models/ecological

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