- Stage 1: No Awareness
- One-on-one visits with community leaders and members. Pay particular attention to the details of these visits (message, communicator, etc.)
- Visit existing and established unrelated small groups to inform them of the issue.
- Get individuals in your social network excited and solicit their support. Be creative! Give them ideas and information that they can post on their Facebook page or other outlets.
- Collect stories of local people who have been affected by this issue in this community and find creative ways to disseminate these.
- Conduct an environmental scan to identify the community’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
- Stage 2: Denial/Resistance
- Continue actions from previous stage.
- Put information in church bulletins, club newsletters, respected publications, social media, etc.
- Distribute media articles that highlight issue in the community.
- Communicate strategically with influencers and opinion leaders.
- Stage 3: Vague Awareness
- Continue actions from previous stages.
- Present information at local community events and unrelated community groups. Don’t rely on just facts. Use visuals and stories. Make your message sticky.
- Post flyers, posters, and billboards.
- Begin to initiate your own events, like potlucks, to present information on this issue. But they must be fun or have other benefits to potential attendees.
- Publish editorials and articles in newspapers and on other media with general information but always relate the information to the local situation.
- Stage 4: Preplanning
- Continue actions from previous stages.
- Introduce information about issue through presentations/media.
- Review the existing efforts in community (curriculum, programs, activities) to determine who benefits and the degree of success.
- Conduct local focus groups to discuss issues and develop strategies.
- Increase media exposure through radio and TV public service announcements and other forms of social media.
- Stage 5: Preparation
- Continue actions from previous stages.
- Conduct public forums to develop strategies.
- Get key leaders to speak out.
- Sponsor a community picnic or event to kick off new efforts or revitalize existing efforts.
- Stage 6: Initiation
- Continue actions from previous stages.
- Conduct in-service training on Community Readiness for professionals and paraprofessionals.
- Plan publicity efforts associated with start-up of activity or efforts.
- Attend meetings to provide updates on progress of the effort.
- Conduct consumer interviews to identify service gaps, improve existing services and identify key places to post information.
- Begin library or Internet search for additional resources and potential funding.
- Begin some basic evaluation efforts.
- Stage 7: Stabilization
- Continue actions from previous stages.
- Plan community events to maintain support for the issue.
- Conduct training for community professionals and community members.
- Introduce your program evaluation through training and newspaper articles.
- Conduct quarterly meetings to review progress, modify strategies.
- Hold recognition events for local supporters or volunteers.
- Prepare and submit newspaper articles detailing progress and future plans.
- Begin networking among service providers and community systems.
- Stage 8: Confirmation/Expansion
- Continue actions from previous stages.
- Formalize the networking with qualified service agreements.
- Prepare a community risk assessment profile.
- Publish a localized program services directory.
- Maintain a comprehensive database available to the public.
- Develop a local speaker’s bureau.
- Initiate policy change through support of local city officials.
- Conduct media outreach on specific data trends related to the issue.
- Utilize evaluation data to modify efforts.
- Stage 9: High Level of Community Ownership
- Continue actions from previous stages.
- Maintain local business community support and solicit financial support from them.
- Diversify funding resources.
- Continue more advanced training of professionals and paraprofessionals.
- Continue re-assessment of issue and progress made.
- Utilize external evaluation and use feedback for program modification.
- Track outcome data for use with future grant requests.
- Continue progress reports for benefit of community leaders and local sponsorship. At this level the community has ownership of the efforts and will invest themselves in maintaining the efforts.
