Mobilize

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The Mobilize phase is the process of defining the cause and the vision of the coalition and gaining community buy-in.

Areas of Focus during this phase:

1) Increased understanding of the problem and partner communication among coalition members:

The process of asking these questions will help to increase understanding of the problem and to help identify the additional resources needed to address the problem.

Key elements include:

• What is the community?
• Location: is the problem worse in some populations, part of the community, than others?
• Who is affected?
• What are the trends?
• What is the frequency?
• What is the cause of the problem?
• What has been tried before?
• Funding/Resources?
• Who has the supporting data?
• What if we don't do this?
• What is the impact to the community?
• What opposing views are held in the community?

Have all members of the coalition been offered an opportunity to provide input to these questions and have answers been recorded in writing?

2) Community awareness of the problem:

The purpose of developing a problem statement is to keep the vision in front of the coalition and to inform the general public.

Questions to ask while developing a problem statement:

• Has this been written down in short, simple, lay language?
• Can coalition members uniformly cite the key points?
  • Need to have 2-4 key points that all coalition members can recite when talking to the general public or potential partners.

3) Community Involvement:

Questions to ask as you work to share and keep the vision alive:

• Have you told the public?
  • Be loud, consistent and creative when communicating the problem to the public.
• What have you learned from the public response?
  • Have you conducted community listening sessions?
  • Have you been able to get community buy in?
• What happens when you tell the public?
  • Monitor and evaluate the response.
    • Types of response include support and opposition.
• When someone offers suggestions they should be recruited to the coalition.

4) Address opposition:

Types of opposition may include:

• Apathy
• Difference in priorities
• Turf issues

What to look for when...

• The coalition is highly mobilized:
  • Largely concentrated effort
  • Community recognition of the message
  • Increased participation in the cause
  • Increased allocation of resources:
    • Financial
    • In-kind
• The coalition is poorly mobilized:
  • Members do not support the vision or may not understand the vision.
  • It becomes increasingly difficult to get people to volunteer for anything related to the project.
  • Contributions (financial or in-kind) are hard to come by.
  • Projects are not done on time (if they are done at all).

Evaluation Measures for Mobilize Phase:

It is important to take time to assess your success at this level before moving on to next phase of Organize. This involves both process evaluation and impact evaluation.

Process evaluation is assuring that you are doing what you said you were going to do in the way you planned to do it and in the timeframe you projected. In the simplest form, the question you are asking yourself is "Did we accomplish what we intended to accomplish as stated in the work plan?" Process evaluation during this phase may include monitoring and tracking the following:

• Number of meetings held.
• Number and type of communication efforts.
• Number of community organizations sponsoring the effort.
• Number and amount of resources allocated to the project.
• Number of people helping at this phase.

Impact evaluation is what effect the decision, activities, and procedures had on reaching the long-term goals. In the simplest form, the question you are asking yourself is "Did we change behavior in the community relative to the identified problem?" Impact evaluation at this phase may include monitoring and tracking the following:

• Percentage of the community members who have heard the messages.
• Number of people/institutions that have responded to the call for action.

Number of dollars generated by the mobilization.

Conclusion:

When thinking about Mobilize ask yourself two questions:

• "What does the community coalition really want to accomplish"?
  • Big Picture thinking here.
• "What is the extent of the community health problem"?
  • Assessment

Mobilize Tools:

General:

Community Tool Box: Chapter 1 Section 7: Working together for Healthier Communities - http://ctb.ku.edu/en/tablecontents/section_1381.htm

CDCynergy - http://www.cdc.gov/communication/cdcynergy.htm

McKnight, John L. and John P. Kretzmann. 1993 . Building Communities From The Inside Out . Chicago: ACTA Publications.

Mobilizing the community - http://ohioline.osu.edu/bc-fact/0010.html

Communities of Excellence in Tobacco Control: A Community Planning Guide. American Cancer Society. To receive this guide, call the American Cancer Society, toll-free at 1-800-ACS-2345.

Step Up, Step Out for Children Workbook: Contact Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Office of Health Promotion for a free copy. 1000 SW Jackson Suite 230, Topeka, Kansas 66612 or call 785-291-3742.

Asset Mapping:

Community Assets Mapping Tool *Community Asset Mapping is an ongoing process. - http://www.sesp.northwestern.edu/abcd/
This tool should be used in all phases of the CHIPr model.

Community Tool Box: Chapter 3: Assessing Community Needs and Resources - http://ctb.ku.edu/en/tablecontents/chapter_1003.htm

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