Community readiness: Research to practice

✍ Scribed by Ruth W. Edwards; Pamela Jumper-Thurman; Barbara A. Plested; Eugene R. Oetting; Louis Swanson

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2000
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 90 KB
• Volume: 28
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0090-4392
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1520-6629(200005)28:3<291::aid-jcop5>3.0.co;2-9

✦ Synopsis

Communities are at many different stages of readiness for implementing programs, and this readiness is to be a major factor in determining whether a local program can be effectively implemented and supported by the community. The Community Readiness Model was developed to meet research needs, (e.g., matching treatment and control communities for an experimental intervention) as well as to provide a practical tool to help communities mobile for change. The model defines nine stages of community readiness ranging from "no awareness" of the problem to "professionalization" in the response to the problem within the community. Assessment of the stage of readiness is accomplished using key informant interviews, with questions on six different dimensions related to a community's readiness to mobilize to address a specific issue. Based on experiences in working directly with communities, strategies for successful effort implementation have been developed for each stage of readiness. Once a community has achieved a stage of readiness where local efforts can be initiated, community teams can be trained in use of the community readiness model. These teams can then develop specific, culturally appropriate efforts