Getting Started

3. Get Results

Now that you have a diverse coalition with a mission, shared vision, and an action plan, what else will help you achieve your goals?

1. Learn about and share the core principles of community health and development with members of your coalition. Principles are a reflection of what we think. They are the essential truths, from our experience, knowledge and values, on which we base our work. The Community Toolbox lists the following Core Principles associated with community health and development:
   • “Fair” doesn’t mean that everyone gets the same thing; it means that everyone gets what he or she needs.
   • Community work is far more likely to be successful if it involves all stakeholders from the very beginning.
   • Leadership from within the community should be encouraged and nurtured.
   • Community work takes careful planning at every stage of the process.
   • Evaluation is absolutely necessary, and useful in many ways, although probably most useful as a tool for improving your effort.
   • Outcomes matter.
   • Allow enough time for things to happen, both in planning and implementation.
   • Don’t bite off more than you can chew.
   • Make sure that your funding and other resources are adequate for what you are trying to do.
   • Community action should take place at the level and time to make it most effective.
   • Community intervention should be replicable and sustainable.
2. Recognize the challenges and roadblocks and research how to overcome them. For example, you may need funds to implement some of your actions, coalition members may be losing interest (conduct an Environmental Scan), or you may be encountering resistance from the community (The Community Toolbox contains tips for overcoming resistance.)
3. You can evaluate the effectiveness of your actions. Evaluation is a process which measures if and how well something was done. Following are the activities involved in evaluation:
   • For each action in your plan, determine how you will find out if the action was effective.
     • When conducting gatekeeper training, ask the gatekeepers to complete an evaluation at the end of the training session to gather ideas for improving the training, and several months after the session to see if the training was implemented.
     • After a suicide prevention media event, meeting or other gathering, hold a discussion to identify what went well and how it could be done better in the future. Ask participants for ideas on how the event/meeting/gathering could be done better in the future.
   • For each goal, determine how you will know if the goal was achieved. Examples:
     • For goal “Train crisis workers in suicide prevention methods”, measure that “100% of crisis center employees are trained in suicide prevention by date”.
     • For goal “Stop bullying in high school”, measure that “high school students report that they feel protected from bullying in the school” or “the number of reported bullying incidents has decreased.”
     • For goal “Reduce the suicide rate by 30%, measure “the suicide rate in ____ County is reduced from ___ (number) to ___ (number) by ____(date)”
   • Determine how you will collect the information to measure your goals. Examples:
     • Conduct a survey
     • Hold a focus group
     • Conduct interviews (e.g., suicide survivors, mental health professionals, students)
     • Examine suicide statistics.
   • Collect information and data.
   • Report results to your stakeholders.
   • Work with stakeholders to modify your action plan or identify new actions.
4. Celebrate even the smallest successes and recognize participants for their time and effort.