Community readiness: Research to practice

Abstract

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 that use local resources to guide the community to more advanced levels of readiness, eventually leading to long‐term sustainability of local community efforts. This article presents the history of the development of the model, the stages of readiness, dimensions used to assess readiness, how readiness is assessed and strategies for change at each level of readiness. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

The REPLACE* Approach: Supporting Communities to end FGM in the EU. A Toolkit

“…These have been used to understand and analyse the success of various prevention programmes such as drug use (Donnermeyer et al, 1997;Edwards et al, 2000), domestic violence, alcohol abuse as well as bicycle helmet use (Kakefuda et al, 2011). One of the first attempts to systematically study a community's readiness level was undertaken by Miller (1990) who assessed the readiness of a community to accept a public education programme on wastewater treatment alternatives.…”

“…By stages 7-9 behaviour change concerning FGM will be established and interventions need to reinforce and support behaviour change and social norm transformation. Suggested actions for the later stages are based on the work of Edwards et al (2000) and Plested et al (2006) as well as discussions with REPLACE partner organisations and Community Peer Group Champions. Edwards et al, 2000;Plested et al, 2006.…”

“…Drawing on community readiness theory (e.g. Edwards et al, 2000), successfully applied to other community issues including drug abuse and domestic violence, to assess where the whole community sits in relation to addressing FGM (Section 5).…”

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“…Notwithstanding a culturally embedded ethic of non-interference in, and tolerance of, other people's activities and freedoms, an accumulation of traumatic incidents or 'spark factors' may serve as a catalyst, pushing people beyond their limits (May et al 1993, Edwards et al 2000. The orchestrated attack on the club at Wadeye is a vivid example.…”

Communities’ Readiness To Commit To High-Quality Health Care

“…1 Now, with legislation enacted, formidable implementation challenges lie ahead. Among those are whether we are truly prepared as a nation to seize the opportunities inherent in the new law to improve the quality of care.…”