The CAPC/CPNP Think Tank 2000: Reaching and Maintaining the Focus Population

Fact Sheet 2 in a series of 5
August 2002

Empower People to Participate

"You want to create a safe space – a safe environment where people want to go." A Think Tank participant

Basic Principles

Think Tank participants defined "focus population" as a formal term for people and families who, for many reasons, are in difficult situations. Given their demographics and life experiences, what is appropriate for one group may not work for another. The underlying challenge is to make a program enticing so that people feel they want to participate. To get the focus population involved, and keep them involved, it is important to have the right:

Staff

"People connect to people, not to agencies or programs." - A Think Tank participant

Recruitment Strategies

"Word-of-mouth is the best way to get more participants." - Think Tank participant

Programs

"If you build it ‘for them', they ‘might' come; if you build it ‘with' them, then they ‘will' come." - A Think Tank participant

Where Do We Start?

Be Understanding

A committed, value-based, flexible, passionate and fun-loving staff who work from a basis of respecting participants and building on their strengths will encourage an environment of trust. They also need to understand:

• Their roles
• What the program is all about
• Who they are serving
• How to work with different agencies
• Discrimination

Staff retention and continuity is important because …

"changing staff is bad as you lose the trust of participants. (They need )to get involved, and this takes time." - A Think Tank participant

"Sell" the Program

The most effective recruitment strategy is word-of-mouth. The participants themselves sell the program. Other recruitment strategies include:

• Investing in staff, recruiting and training.
• Basing the program in a location in the community where it is most easily accessible to all participants.
• Creating a welcoming space where people can feel that it belongs to them.
• Providing on-site childcare.
• Using creative approaches, such as hiring a school bus, to eliminate transportation barriers.
• Keeping activities fun and engaging.
• Building confidential and trusting relationships between staff and participants goes a long way to attracting people and to keeping them involved.

Customize Programs

A program should evolve, change, and grow with participants. This can be done by:

• Asking participants what they want and meeting their needs.
• Building a sense of ownership by involving them in the planning process.
• Establishing clear goals and objectives and a clear focus.
• Ensuring that programs are culturally appropriate and sensitive.
• Fostering linkages to other resources. You have to know what is out there.

Challenges

Two main challenges to reaching the focus population are:

• Resources: the ongoing issue of limited financial resources as well as time and staff. Use creative fundraising and/or find more than one source of funding in order to survive.
• Capacity Building

"In order to recruit the public, you need funds. Adequate funding equals better recruitment." - A Think Tank participant

Keeping on Track

• Positive language is critical, such as ‘priority parents' and ‘under-resourced' instead of ‘high risk' and ‘no resources'. Literature has to be designed so that participants can relate to it.
• Build a staff development program into the budget. Partnering with other organizations in the community can help when resources are tight. For example, Yukon College became a partner for training caregivers.
• A key word is ‘adapt'; programs should vary from one situation to another.

Where Do We Go From Here?

Results of the Literature review

The findings of the literature review summarize barriers and possible strategies for reaching and working with hard-to-reach populations, including:

• Outreach — Locating participants for initial and continued contact can be difficult and labour intensive. The use of concrete incentives, such as providing basic food needs, is an effective outreach strategy.
• Interactional — The personal qualities of staff and their ability to reflect on their practice and their values are key elements. Staff training and development should be ongoing. The use of peer and para/professionals, as well as the use of multi-disciplinary approaches are effective strategies.
• System — People will have better access to the program if some of their financial, transportation, and child care needs are met. Other things to consider include basing interventions on identified needs, and improved coordination and integration of services.
• Socio-demographic/Social policy — Focus on high-risk conditions. Strategies here are broad and encompass empowerment and advocacy included in a community development approach.

Key Messages From the Think Tank

• Step back from your own values. The reality is that priority parents do not always want what you want.
• Network and build partnerships to involve people. This means letting partners know what your program is about, what it can offer, and to whom.
• Programs that are parent-owned and parent-driven are more likely to succeed.
• Programs should be creative and fun, and celebrate the successes and milestones.

" we try to make every event a celebration … the souvenirs, the pictures, the memories are extremely important to the participants. It helps to build their self-esteem. They keep coming back to something nice." - A Think Tank participant

The Community Action Program for Children (CAPC) and the Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program (CPNP) support a range of community action programs and services for pregnant women, parents and children living in conditions of risk across Canada. CAPC and CPNP sponsored their first "Think Tank" in Ottawa. To ensure that the outcomes were meaningful to CAPC/CPNP projects, an Advisory committee with representation from projects, as well as regional and national Health Canada staff, designed and shaped the event.

At the Think Tank, representatives from 38 CAPC and CPNP projects came together with community- based participatory researchers to integrate their experience and expertise into four issue papers:

• Maximizing Parental Involvement
• Reaching and Maintaining the Focus Population
• Factors that Contribute to Increased Breastfeeding in the CAPC/CPNP Population.
• Partnership and Intervention in Dealing With Child Abuse Prevention

A fifth paper entitled, Colouring Outside the Lines: An Overview of the CAPC/CPNP Think Tank Process, provides an overview of the experimental model used during the Think Tank.

The key highlights of these five issue papers have also been captured in five fact sheets with the same titles. This fact sheet is the second in the series.

Production of this document by the Centre for Health Promotion, University of Toronto, has been made possible by a financial contribution from the CAPC/CPNP National Projects Fund, Health Canada.

Permission is granted to photocopy this material provided that the source is acknowledged. Full versions of the issue papers and the fact sheets are available on the Division of Childhood and Adolescence website. Hard copies of the documents can also be obtained by contacting the Division of Childhood and Adolescence at (613) 957-3956.