Researching and Visiting Community Organizations that Address Social Determinants of Health

Purpose of Assignment

The purpose of this assignment is to give you an opportunity to research and visit a community organization that is working to address the social determinants of health. The research and visit will inform your understanding of how partnerships and collaboration with people, services and programs can build strong communities to nurture children and families.

The format of the assignment will also provide you with an opportunity to learn, practice and/or refine your skills using 21st century technology tools as a method of sharing information with others.

The following learning outcomes (numbered from the course outline) are being evaluated in this assignment:

1.Discover the principles of community capacity building to understand the model of community as a means to nurture children and families

2.Examine Canadian models of collaboration and teamwork to understand benefits for children and families in communities

3.Appraise community and partnership development strategies and approaches required to work collaboratively in communities

4.Analyse community issues to identify the impact on the EC profession.

5.Examine the roles and perspectives of stakeholders within community organizations required to build partnerships

You are to research and visit one non-profit community organization/agency/hub that works with children (birth-12 years) and/or families that is EITHER in your own neighbourhood where you live or in the neighbourhood of your field practicum or is a community of interest that you want to visit and learn more about. This is your own personal choice. The focus is on a community initiative or organization that provides free voluntary support to children (prenatal/birth- 12 years) and/or their families. (NOT A CHILDCARE). A list of possible organizations to visit is at the end of this assignment.

You are going to research about the neighbourhood the organization is in, the organizations’ philosophy, vision, mission, funding model, services offered and other relevant information before going to visit. 

1. You will decide what type of community organization you would like to visit, where, and when. It must meet certain criteria and be approved by the professor by Week 3 (see list at end of this assignment and criteria).

2. This is in an individual assignment. If however, you and a classmate have chosen the same community organization and want to plan your visit together, that would be beneficial for the organization to meet with a small group of students at the same time (no more than 4).

3. In order to learn and/or gain practice using 21st century technology tools, it is preferable that an online format is submitted for all work. A website is an ideal format for this submission, however if you would like to learn and/or use an alternative format, a video could be submitted.

Learning Outcomes Assessed in this Assignment

There are 4 Parts (and 4 submissions) to this assignment. Each part has a different due date. See the Critical Path for all dates.

Your proposal will include the following information and is to be submitted in a typed 1 page overview: Include a title page and attach a blank rubric.

1. Identify the name of the community organization you would like to research and visit. Briefly describe the service the organization provides, who they serve and why this organization interests you.

2. What neighbourhood is the community organization in? (is it where you live, near your placement, or in another neighbourhood?). Identify and name the riding or ward it is in. Include the address of the organization.

3. Identify the name and position of the staff member who you think would be appropriate to meet with and interview. It should be someone who is a staff member in the program and can provide detailed information e.g. If you choose to visit an EarlyOn centre, it would be a staff who works with the families that you would speak to, not an administrative assistant or volunteer.

4. List a potential date you could visit. Use the days/times the program staff is available, when the program is offered, your own schedule and the due date for the research (Week 8) to guide your decision. You do not need to visit when the program is running. The purpose is not to observe the actual program, but talk directly to a staff member about the program(s).

5. What web site builder will you use for this assignment? It should be free (no money should be spent for this assignment) Some good, easy to use free websites are weebly.com and wix.com If you want to use another format (e.g. video or other idea) then describe what format you would like to use for this assignment.

Before going for your visit:

1. Read the organizations’ web site to understand their purpose, mission,programs and services offered. Go through all information in the website in thorough detail. If there are annual reports, read these, hyperlinks to take you to other resources, read these. If others have written about the organization, read this as well.

2. After your research and reading, answer the following questions. You can create tabs on your website, to break up the content and record your findings:

a) What is the organizations’ purpose?

b) What programs, services, supports are offered? There might be a range of programs, but the focus for this assignment is early childhood so only focus on programs for children (prenatal-12 years) and their families.

c) Who funds the organization? Since it is non-profit, it may receive municipal, provincial or federal funding, or it could be a combination of different levels of government.

d) Based on what you have learned about the organization, describe which of the 14 social determinants of health do you think they are working on and why?

e) Look at the demographics for the ward to familiarize yourself with the population in the neighbourhood before going on your visit. Use the ward/riding/census reports to describe some of the demographics of the people who live in the neighbourhood that you think are relevant for an ECE to know (ethnicity, languages spoken, income level…). Choose only relevant demographic data to add statistics that add information to help the reader understand more about the neighbourhood, e.g. we don’t need to know how many seniors are in the neighbourhood unless the program you visited has a program that links seniors with families and children. You may want to create an infographic or diagram to record this information in a creative and easy to use format. If visiting a community hub, you can use the community hub map tool to review demographics, social determinants of health, etc. http://gis.communityhubsontario.ca/auth/login.

f) Prepare several questions you may want to ask, information you want to find out, about the neighbourhood, demographics, program, services offered, who attends, when you go for your visit e.g. Do the demographics you researched match who the program is serving? How does the organization address the January 2019 needs of the community? (low income, diversity of ethnicities,