Using Visual Data to Engage Stakeholders in a Community Assessment of a Placed-Based Initiative: Asset Mapping

Comprehensive place-based initiatives require community researchers to engage multiple stakeholders in the planning, implementation and evaluation process in meaningful ways. First 5 LA (F5LA) is collaborating with various stakeholders to conduct a placed-based initiative, Best Start, to improve health outcomes for children 0-5 and their families in socioeconomically marginalized communities throughout Los Angeles County. As part of Best Start, a community assessment was conducted to identify: (1) community assets and strengths; (2) community conditions that influence behavior change; and (3) factors that F5LA can effectively influence to improve health outcomes. The methods of engagement utilized in this project reflect values in two important ways: First, the way in which researchers/evaluators value stakeholders as informants and data sources and second, how researchers/evaluators value the very process of stakeholder engagement itself. This presentation focuses on the use of qualitative and quantitative data techniques to engage stakeholders in meaningful ways in a community assessment process. Presenters will highlight methods of data collection/visual data presentation (asset mapping incorporating use of GIS, social network analysis, and participatory photography) and will illustrate how these methods were used to engage particular stakeholder groups. Presentations include illustrations of work produced, an analysis of how visual methods influenced the nature of the data garnered, and data dissemination and lessons learned from implementing these approaches in a community-based setting.