Resource Library
7. Best Practices
"What worked?" Thirty-seven reports identified aspects of their
projects that they regarded as positive accomplishments. For the
most part these successes were process-oriented, although some
projects listed outputs/products that they felt had worked well.
7.1 Process
Responses in this category fell broadly into two groupings:
- factors that helped smooth the way for project organizers (administrative
tools, approaches and mechanisms, etc);
- factors that contributed to project success mainly from a client perspective
(content/format, client-sensitive setting, delivery mode, etc).
It should be noted that a factor that is helpful to clients may
also smooth the way for project organizers, but
it may not. The groupings below seek to show where the positive
effect of any given practice/approach was principally experienced
- i.e., at the organizer or the client level.
Factors that mainly helped to smooth the way for project
organizers included:
- collaboration (e.g., team-building, committee approach, use
of pre-existing community connections, the range of community
partners involved);
- the participation of a wide variety of stakeholders in project
advisory committees (e.g., corrections personnel);
- partnerships (e.g., the partnership between one project group
and a provincial pharmacists' association improved the quality
of the resource, boosted its distribution and enabled the project
to go province-wide);
- peer involvement;
- use of a whole-person approach;
- physician participation in educational sessions (e.g., gastroenterologists
and hepatologists, leading to increased attendance);
- newspaper advertisements, which, although sometimes costly,
generated calls for information;
- press articles and the use of media interviews to raise awareness;
- preliminary meetings held with prison inmates (which promoted
the project and facilitated inmates' involvement in developing
educational tools/strategies);
- [an NGO's] prior knowledge and experience of inmate culture
and prison issues (which aided in developing a successful strategy
for client involvement - in this instance, a tattoo art contest);
- the ability of an outreach staff team to engender trust among
clients and make positive connections;
- a harm-reduction approach (with street populations);
- reaching out to priority populations in a discreet low-profile
manner (reducing clients' fear of stigma);
- the supportive attitude of an NGO Board of Directors to the
needs of a youth theatre troupe (attending rehearsals, listening
to the youth and ensuring that board policy decisions reflected
the needs they expressed);
- ongoing professional development for paid and volunteer staff
(attendance at conferences, courses, workshops) as a means of
strengthening project capacity;
- a flexible approach to programming (enabling opportunities
to be fully exploited);
- the solicitation of regular community feedback (allowing projects
to stay responsive to changing community needs).
Factors that contributed to project success more from a client standpoint
included:
- participation by spouses/companions in a weekend conference
(and funding their transport, meals and accommodation);
- individualized approaches (including private meetings and telephone
contact, which allowed clients to steer the meeting and "unload" their
personal worries and concerns);
- suppers and film discussions, which were enjoyed by youth;
- the understanding of clients' circumstances (as demonstrated
by the use of a film character with whom they could readily identify);
- the
hiring of a hepatitis C-infected project coordinator who could
share her own personal experiences with others;
- the provision
of an informal anonymous comment book for use by community
groups (which led to the expansion/development of resources to
include hepatitis C, co-infection and needle-use issues).
7.2 Products
Project reports also pointed to various outputs that were well
received by various client populations. These included:
- skits presented by youth for youth in Atlantic Canada (gauged
by the subsequent requests for performances received from local
high schools);
- a game show-like tool that peer health educators in Vancouver
used for education/harm reduction purposes. It reportedly helped
peers to both stay on top of developments in youth sexual health
and assess the information needs of specific groups of youth;
- a pamphlet produced for the injection drug-using population
(prescription and non-prescription), acclaimed for its clarity,
accuracy and attractive lay-out;
- "prevention kits" and other educational resources used to educate
and raise hepatitis C awareness among inmates in a Quebec detention
centre.
7.3 Documenting and Sharing
As more projects are completed, it will be useful to examine
successful processes and products in order to identify common elements
and determine whether they can be adapted to other settings/audiences.
Meanwhile, project organizers are being encouraged to carefully
document their projects, including any factors that may have influenced
their outcomes, and to share useful information with the wider
hepatitis C community.
With this in mind, in 2001 a number of community groups were
invited to make presentations on their projects at a session on " Innovative
Community Projects" at the 1st Canadian Conference on Hepatitis
C in Montreal. The conference provided an opportunity to publicize
the efforts and accomplishments of the many groups who provide
hepatitis C prevention, education and support services to communities
across the country. This proved to be an effective and popular
means of disseminating information about models and tools and several
presenters reported that their work had generated considerable
interest. Groups should be encouraged to continue this kind of
dialogue, which enables them to exchange experiences, borrow ideas
and approaches, and openly explore what went right or wrong.
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