Back to Annual Meeting

Back to Annual Meeting

APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Linda M. Bosma, MA, PhD, Bosma Consulting, LLC, 3422 44th Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55406, 612-721-4998, linda@bosmaconsulting.com

The field of public health has recently employed community organizing methods to address alcohol and substance use problems in communities. There is a gap in the current research that does not explain how the use of community organizing works as a method to prevent and reduce alcohol-related problems. While looking at long-term outcomes such as drinking rates, the research to date has done little to inform practitioners about the implementation or evaluation of the community organizing process in these interventions. Current research also overlooks the unique outcomes of the community organizing process itself on the participants, such as leadership development and other outcomes. This research examines the community organizing component of Communities Mobilizing for Change on Alcohol (CMCA), a Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Model Program, to identify useful evaluation methods and key elements of community organizing as an intervention. This research examined three groups that were implementing CMCA, using an interpretive case study using mixed methods, including qualitative interviews with action team members, qualitative interviews with staff and project administrators, qualitative interviews with a sample of key community members, participant observations of action team meetings and activities, analysis of process evaluation data, including meetings, attendance, participation, and document and content analysis of meeting minutes and records. Recommendations are made for evaluation of community organizing programs.

Learning Objectives: At the end of this session, the participant will be able to

• List key elements necessary for the evaluation of community organizing,
• Articulate differences between outcome evaluation of elements such as policy outcomes and outcomes related to the organizing process itself, and
• Apply these lessons to the evaluation of community organizing/mobilization programs in their agencies or organizations.

Keywords: Community Involvement, Evaluation

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation