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What’s all the hype about Results-Based Accountability?
When I was a Health Educator, I worked with a team to launch a Positive Community Norms (PCN) campaign to highlight how most students choose not to use substances. Afterwards, I presented to a Community Advisory Committee on the campaign and remember someone asking, “Would you do it again? How do you know it made a difference for kids?” I paused...and didn’t have a great answer.
One way to avoid this situation is to use a framework called Results-Based Accountability (RBA).
Avoiding Distractions: How Aims Statements Can Help
A public health nurse, former English teacher, and a planner walk into a conference room. Their task? Build innovative public health infrastructure. Ah, yes. A nice, easy, clear task.
This was the start of our MDH Infrastructure grant work. So where did we start?! We began by creating an aims statement (sometimes called a problem statement).
One way to incorporate more coffee into your workday
If I asked you to raise your virtual hand if you love coffee, I am sure many of you reading this would have a hand up. Now what if I asked you to raise your hand if you love conducting assessments for public health programs? While assessments are important and can be enjoyable, there may not be as many hands that quickly raise up. What if you could combine the two for a public health assessment tool?
Building Strong Foundations: Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF) in Action
Have you ever been asked to prevent a complex health issue and weren’t sure where to start? This can be common in public health. The Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF) offers a structured, community-centered approach to addressing substance misuse, and other health issues, effectively.
From Data to Wisdom: Applying Quantitative and Qualitative Data
In public health, we are continuously looking over or collecting data to better understand the needs of our community. But does having data mean we understand a community?
Exploring Creative Ways to Collect Data: Dot Voting
Are you a public health professional tired of using the same method over and over again to collect data? You may be one of the many who are constantly requesting others to fill a quick survey, give an interview, or participate in a focus group. While these are effective data collection methods, everything is better in moderation. In this post, we are not discouraging those platforms or methods but simply exploring other creative data collection methods such as the dot voting method.
Making Equity a Daily Practice
Health equity is more than just a buzzword in public health—it's a practice that requires attention to detail in everyday actions. While large-scale initiatives are vital, public health professionals can create meaningful change through small, intentional actions in our daily work. Ask yourself: Does the data we collect truly represent the communities we serve? Are there simple adjustments we can make to ensure our data is more complete, and actionable, helping us uncover and address gaps in access to services?
Talking Data, Equity, or Partnerships? Start with Values.
Do you have data you want to tell people about? Are health equity topics heavy on your mind, and you want others to understand? Are you working to develop a partnership? Here’s one thing you can do to help your words land in the way you intend.
Know what values the people you’re trying to reach have in common with you, as a public health professional. Name those values. Say them loud, proud, and first. When you take a moment to connect in this way, others may be more ready to hear your data, talk about equity, and take action together.
Is this good data?
When we harness data in these ways, we gain a deeper understanding of community need. But in a world with an overabundance of data and information, how do we know what we can trust? We have to consider the data source, the timeliness of the data, if the methods are transparent, and if the data is saying what we think it’s saying. There’s a lot to understanding if something is “good” data, and even “good” data can be misinterpreted.
Why aren’t my project planning conversations landing?
Looking back on my project, we struggled to find clarity and direction forward in our discussions because we were thinking at different levels of perspective, and that influenced the way we engaged in this discussion.
If I were to do this project again, I would set the stage with this 5-minute video from Chris McGoff at The Primes, who I think explains it best.