Readiness:

• Is my community or organization ready to use THRIVE?
• Is there a chance we could do damage to the community or its members?

Planning Process:

• What are the elements of a community planning process?
• What is the relationship between THRIVE and the elements of community planning process?

Collaboration:

• Who should I include in the process?
• Should I include the health sector?
• What might I say to engage different stakeholders in a planning process centered on THRIVE?

Getting Started with THRIVE: Collaboration

Who should I include in the process?

There may be an existing coalition or community group that has the capacity and interest and this could be a good place to start. If not, think about key stakeholders and invite them. No matter what, always ensure that individuals in the community have multiple opportunities to participate, and provide leadership in the process.

Improving health requires the mobilization of a broad array of activities, staff, and resources across multiple sectors. These include, but are not limited to public health, planning, public works, housing, transportation, parks and recreation, local business, media, law enforcement, economic development, and housing. It may be helpful for different sectors to be engaged at different times. For example, the group of people that agree on specific priorities may not be the same as is needed for successful implementation. Be prepared to identify and engage new partners throughout the process. Effective collaboration can be of value for a number of reasons, including: range of expertise, service access and usability, ability to draw on multiple resources or funding streams, reduced duplication, breadth or depth of impact, credibility, and access to information.

Should I include the health sector?

Clearly the health sector, including public health and health care, is the sector with a mandate and funding streams to improve health outcomes. However, given what is known about what contributes to good health, the health sector can not be successful alone. The health sector has a critical role to play in advancing awareness and understanding of what creates health and in engaging the necessary players. THRIVE can help communicate this message and identify the necessary partners, such as public works, housing, transportation, economic development, and others.

What might I say to engage different stakeholders in a planning process centered on THRIVE?

Whether or not people will choose to participate in the process and/or provide the necessary resources for success will depend on many factors including understanding the need for the approach and the potential for impact. Below is some language that can be used or modified.

• THRIVE is an exercise that provides community residents with a way to identify and understand the multiple factors that affect our health. Participants can then prioritize the steps that might be taken to make their community a healthier place to live, leading to happier more productive community residents.
• Building health into a community is the focus of a recently released planning tool for use across America . The THRIVE tool allows citizens and city and local officials, as well as health experts, to use a cost savings method to effectively blend resources and services to reduce health disparities while promoting economic growth in communities. The THRIVE process engages community members, policymakers, and business representatives in efforts to promote healthy communities by improving the quality of health, safety, and education, while fostering economic growth.
• THRIVE is a planning tool designed to assist community groups, policymakers, and government agencies develop programs to reduce health disparities. Health disparities currently exist in abundance, and evidence suggests that many of the health issues facing communities of color cannot be addressed by medicine and healthcare alone. Through a step-by-step process groups are assisted in identifying various factors that affect the health of the community and develop short and long range strategies and programs.
• THRIVE is a powerful tool which can assist policymakers to prioritize limited resources in such a way as to improve the health of families and children in their communities. This tool allows community members, government agencies, and business representatives to talk about the community needs, identify health problems, and look for long and short term solutions that can be implemented.