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Background: Inner-city public health system infrastructures all across the United States are crumbling, which puts further demands on an already fragile workforce with limited resources.
Program background: Inner-city public health system infrastructures all across the United States are crumbling, which puts further demands on an already fragile workforce with limited resources. In order to meet urgent public health mandates, a single neighborhood activist bearing all associated outreach costs (materials, travel, labor, marketing, internet, mobile, etc.), worked closely with neighbors, civic associations, City of Atlanta’s Public Works/Watershed Departments and elected officials to effectively develop and implement intown wellness interventions addressing Systemic Sanitation-Trash Removal Problems, Safe Water, Traffic Calming, and Liquor Licensing-Public Nuisance). By utilizing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Situational Analysis Modeling Framework, an innovative Community Wellbeing Strategic e-Communication Tool Box (CWSeCTB), was developed from population based outreach efforts identifying/linking underserved community needs to Atlanta’s flawed public health departmental services/polices. This was accomplished by integrating an innovative Mind Mapping process into CWSeCTB that utilized an e-mapping Portal to support informational cross sharing among neighboring communities and connecting to other traditional media outlets. Once baseline needs were established and key Atlanta-departmental staff identified, primary/secondary messaging were disseminated to expand capacities for in-town (hard-to-reach/vulnerable) stakeholder alliances. The CWSeCTB served as a key driving agent for flexible and seamless strategic priorities, enabling stakeholders and partners to bring detailed focus to communications and feedback loop. The presentation will cover CWSeCTB‘s Development-Implementation Methodologies, by breaking down each phase to visualize-capture-organize-manage information.
Evaluation Methods and Results: Methods: A formative evaluation will be conducted for Development-Implementation Phase by utilizing the Mind Mapping process. By integrating stakeholder feedback from focus groups, evidence-based policy indicators will be identified, prioritized, and integrated into evaluation metrics. Strategically capturing these critical discussions on a comprehensive Mind Mapping Portal will aid the evaluation design. Findings are hoped to assist policy makers in the tactical shift in City of Atlanta’s departmental/organization cultural toward viable cost effective policy formulation-execution.
Conclusions: > The CWSeCTB facilitated more cohesive/seamless partnerships with Atlanta’s communities, municipal staffing service delivery points (departmental-ownership) and elected officials (accountability). As a result, newly upgraded water/sewer infrastructure, weekly systematic trash pickup, speed humps installation and licensing meetings, are providing for more unified-robust sustainable interventions for Atlanta’s health, safety and welfare.
Implications for research and/or practice: Research: CWSeCTB’s Mind Mapping Portal served as a universal-translator and catalyst to reduce informational clutter and is deeply rooted in Diffusion of Innovation and Community Organization Theories with monitoring/evaluation best practices. Using CDC’s Situational Modeling Framework research as an integral building block of this (economical) community empowerment user-friendly communication tool, in conjunction with the Mind Mapping Portal inspired real-time frank discussions among geographically disadvantaged-disenfranchised-diverse communities to increase stakeholder awareness/call to action. For example, “Cloud” based applications and Social Media content were utilized in a multi-tier novel approach using banner email blasts/mobile texting, Facebook, twitter, micro-blogging webinars, buttons-badges-widgets, and RSS Feeds to garner attention by providing incentives (teaser information) then shepherding back to the Portal for more detailed discussions. Multi-media was another of its functionality incorporating web-podcasting, white boarding, and virtual-chat. Practice: Small modifications to the CWSeCTB still allow for credible audience segmentation and targeted messaging for those neighborhoods most in need of assistance.