Our Model for Community Change and Improvement:
Using Internet-Based Tools to Promote Community Health and Development
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WHAT DO WE MEAN BY USING INTERNET-BASED TOOLS TO PROMOTE COMMUNITY HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT?
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WHY USE INTERNET-BASED TOOLS TO PROMOTE COMMUNITY HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT?
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WHO SHOULD USE INTERNET-BASED TOOLS TO PROMOTE COMMUNITY HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT?
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WHEN SHOULD YOU USE INTERNET-BASED TOOLS TO PROMOTE COMMUNITY HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT?
The Internet can function as an invaluable resource in community health and development. In this section, you will learn how to use the Internet to gather and distribute information, to effectively communicate with others, and to gain support and credibility in conducting community projects.
WHAT DO WE MEAN BY USING INTERNET-BASED TOOLS TO PROMOTE COMMUNITY HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT?
The Internet is the largest and most comprehensive storehouse of information and knowledge ever assembled, and represents the largest communication network the world has ever known. With the click of a mouse, (or a Smartphone), you can update your Facebook status or send a Tweet and reach thousands of people all across the globe. You can also work collaboratively with someone you may never meet in person, read an article on most any subject, or scan the contents of the world's largest libraries.
You can also get a huge array of false information. It's important to be aware of the reliability of the source of any information you get online. If you have any question about it, check out the information with other sources before you assume that it's accurate. Even reliable sites - the New York Times or major universities, for instance - make mistakes from time to time. The difference is that they generally correct themselves as soon as they find the error, while less reliable sites may intentionally persist in error, or simply may not bother to change their information once it's posted.
Two websites that provide some guidelines for sorting out good information from bad are "Ten C's for Evaluating Internet Sources," from the library of the University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire; and "Criteria to Evaluate the Credibility of WWW Resources."
There are different kinds of Internet-based tools you might use, and different purposes you might use them for:
To learn how to do the work. The Community Tool Box is an example, but there are many others that can provide guidance as you plan your work, start a coalition, raise money, gain participation, etc.
To gather information .This obviously includes a broad range of possibilities - not only websites, but also chat and newsgroups, on-line publications, library catalogues, and other on-line resources. Some of the most common types of information you might be seeking:
- Demographics (age, gender, race, ethnicity, income, etc.). The most common source of this data in the U.S. is the Census Bureau, but much may also be found on state, county, municipal, and federal and state government agency and department websites. The equivalent data for Canada can be found on the website of the Canadian Census, and on provincial and ministry sites.
- Laws and regulations. Laws can be found on a number of websites for both the U.S. and Canada. These include U.S. state laws; Uniform Commercial Code, U.S. federal laws, and the General Laws of Canada. Regulations of municipal, county, state, and federal agencies can generally be found on the agency websites (Resources contains a partial listing of federal agencies).
- Funders and funding opportunities. A well-defined web search will turn up the names of foundations that are interested in your issue, and their websites will tell you whether you're a good candidate for funding by them or not. State and other government agency websites will also give information about what they fund, how much is available, and usually include copies of current Requests for Proposals (RFPs). The websites of state and national coalitions and organizations may also have funding information or opportunities.
- Best practices. Many U.S. and Canadian state/provincial and national government agencies (e.g., the U.S. National Institutes of Health) have on their websites lists and descriptions of successful programs and approaches (sometimes actually called "best practices," sometimes just identified as successes or effective programs.) Professional organizations, coalitions devoted to your issue, and organizations that run successful programs are all likely to have information on line about best practices.
- New methods, ideas, theory, or research in the field. Academic papers and journal articles, chat or newsgroup discussions, and e-zines or electronic versions of newspapers, journals, and other media may all make this kind of information available on the Internet, or at least tell you where you can find print versions. Web pages containing this information may also include an e-mail address for the author or another expert, so that you can contact her personally to discuss the ideas more fully.
- Information to use for education or other program purposes. Biographical data, historical facts, scientific principles or formulas, the text of important historical or government documents (the U.S. Constitution, for example).
To communicate with others. The Internet allows you to communicate with people from all over the world in a short time, through e-mail, Skype, Twitter, instant messaging, etc. Among the reasons you might want to do so are:
- To share and discuss information and advice on your work, or on political or social factors affecting it, in newsgroups, chat rooms, forums, etc.
- To communicate directly with colleagues, participants, funders, collaborators, and others. You might also use e-mail to ask members or supporters for contributions; to advertise programs or events; to discuss individual cases or situations with others involved; to ask questions of colleagues or experts; or to organize and engage in advocacy.
- To use a website to get your message out, advertise your services, and post messages and other important material for participants, members, board members, staff, and others.
To distribute educational or informational material to participants . Many university courses use the Community Tool Box as text, for instance, or send students directly to the Community Tool Box site for course reading.
To conduct business . Non-profit and grass roots organizations, like many individuals, use the Internet to find and contact suppliers; comparison shop; order materials, equipment, and supplies; pay bills; advertise positions; and sell or publicize services and products.
To engage in advocacy . The Internet can be invaluable to an advocacy effort. E-mail, websites, listservs, and discussion groups allow an advocacy group to organize, mobilize members for action, contact policy makers, conduct advocacy research, and educate a constituency, as well as the general public, about an issue.
WHY USE INTERNET-BASED TOOLS TO PROMOTE COMMUNITY HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT?
First, the scope: the Internet is truly international, and knows no borders. Even in places where there is no electricity, there is the possibility of Internet access by satellite and with the use of solar powered computers. That means that virtually anyone can gain access to the vast store of information and potential in cyberspace, and can communicate with others in faraway places. Such power can be misused - terrorists take advantage of the Internet all the time, for example - but it can also create previously unimaginable opportunities for economic, social, political, intellectual, and human development.
There are, of course, some limitations here. One is the availability of hardware. Certainly, the poor, especially in developing nations, are unlikely to own computers - a laptop represents considerably more than a year's income for a family in many countries - but they may have access to them through non-governmental organizations (NGOs), government projects, schools, or other channels. In general, the issue of access is a serious one for a good proportion of the world's population.
Perhaps an equally severe barrier is that of literacy. Probably a majority of the world's low-income population (perhaps even a majority of the world's total population) is either completely or functionally illiterate, and even many who are literate are not fluent in English or one of the other languages common to most Internet sites. Translation is one answer, but the sweep of available material is so vast - websites number in the billions, and increase daily - that it is difficult to imagine anything short of truly effective translation software addressing the problem. The literacy issue is even thornier, since much of the planet's illiterate population has very little opportunity for school, and very little support - governmental or otherwise - for changing their situation.
That said, there still remain billions of people who can benefit directly by use of the Internet, and billions more who can be helped by it as a result.
Second, by its very nature, the Internet is almost certainly the most democratic medium ever devised. Access to the vast majority of its sites is free. Its size and scope are such that anyone who can get online can learn nearly anything. No one is denied the right to say what she wishes, to contact whomever she wishes, or to go almost anywhere she wants electronically, at least by the restrictions of the Internet itself.
Furthermore, the nature of the medium makes it possible for a message to be transmitted to a recipient anywhere in the world, or for that same message to reach thousands, or even millions, of people in a very short time. The Internet eliminates not only the physical barriers of time and space, but social ones as well. Anyone's words can be sent to anyone else, and judged solely by their content, rather than by the sender's appearance or apparent social standing. Everyone is equal, at least in some respects, at the keyboard.
There are governments that monitor and limit Internet use for political reasons. It is difficult for them to stop every activity they'd like to, but the threat of being caught undoubtedly keeps many of their citizens from roaming freely. In some cases, these governments are able to cut off access to large parts of the system, but people continue to find ways around the barriers.
Given these two outstanding characteristics of the Internet - its huge size and its democratic nature - there are a number of reasons why Internet-based tools have enormous potential for health and community development.
- They give access to knowledge and information to everyone - not just to those who can use libraries or universities, not just to those who enjoy a free and reliable press, not just to those who live in developed countries, not just to those who are educated or well-off. Thus, they build capacity for people to work out solutions to their concerns.
- They make it possible for people to change their lives and communities themselves , without having to depend on others more educated or sophisticated to "save" them.
- They help to distribute power and control more equitably throughout societies. If knowledge is power - and the one certainly has a lot to do with the other - then access to knowledge, accurate information, and the truth are all keys to power, keys that the Internet can provide.
- They help to combat ignorance and misinformation, as well as disinformation (the intentional lies that governments, corporations, institutions, and other entities sometimes tell in order to keep control or to protect their own self-interest).
- They make it easier for people t o understand how they can effect social change , and therefore to be more willing to attempt it.
- They give people models to follow. This is true in several senses: Internet-based tools can help people discover best practices and processes that are likely to work in their communities. They can, by exposing people to a range of possibilities, change their goals and sense of the possible. And they can present individual role models - either individuals with whom Internet users might establish direct contact, or simply profiles of other people like themselves who have been able to accomplish good things. Many websites of NGOs and development organizations - Oxfam America comes to mind - profile such people: farmers, factory workers, or other ordinary folks who have made a difference in their communities.
- They put people concerned with health and community development in touch with one another, so they can act as mutual support, and can spread their own knowledge and experience farther.
- They increase the ease and effectiveness of advocacy, particularly for those who might otherwise have no voice. As discussed above, Internet-based tools can mobilize and instruct people in action, provide information on issues, and facilitate strategic planning for policy change.
- They can ease access to elected and appointed officials. Most of these officials now have websites and e-mail, and can be contacted directly through them.
- They can help to assure the accountability of those officials and of oversight bodies. Proceedings of governmental and legislative sessions and hearings, legislators' voting records, corporate political contributions, and a great deal of other information relating to official accountability is available on the Internet, as well as the details of the U.S. Freedom of Information Act, through which you can obtain even more.
- They can shorten response time to community emergencies or to addressing community needs. The Internet and e-mail can mobilize volunteers, supplies, and funding to cope with disasters or to alert the community about and address community issues. The overwhelming international response to the December, 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean was largely due to the Internet.
- They encourage and facilitate collaboration among individuals and organizations at all levels. The Internet makes it easier for individuals and organizations to work together, especially if they are geographically separated. A collaborative funding proposal, for instance, can be worked on by many different people at the same time.
WHO MIGHT USE INTERNET-BASED TOOLS TO DO HEALTH AND COMMUNITY WORK?
Access Checklist, Examples, & Powerpoint.