Using the Internet to Build Community Capacity for Healthy Public Policy

Abstract

An interactive Web site and e-mail campaign became the primary focus of a coalition's community mobilization strategy to advocate for changes to the local smoking bylaw in a large Canadian urban center. This article presents the findings of an Internet survey of 2,200 Internet mailing list recipients in which 26% (n=605) submitted responses. Findings from four focus groups of the survey respondents (n=28) are also reported. The survey found that a majority of the mailing list respondents (66.1%) contacted the city council during the campaign. Only 35.8% of respondents had contacted a city council member prior to this campaign. As a result of their participation in the Internet campaign, 50.6% stated that they were more likely to get involved in future civic issues. These findings were confirmed by focus groups that found increased capacity for political involvement on this issue as well as capacity for future social and political action.

The Effectiveness of Mass Communication to Change Public Behavior

“…The mass media has been used to increase social capital, social cohesion, or collective efficacy in only a handful of instances (28,47,80,88). In one example, the Kansas Health Foundation conducted a statewide media campaign to increase social capital in Kansas (80).…”

Internet na promoção da saúde: um instrumento para o desenvolvimento de habilidades pessoais e sociais

“…estudos apontam-na como um instrumento especial para obtenção de informação/conhecimentos e de capacitação, tanto individual, quanto comunitária (HaRdeY, 1999;HaRdeY, 2001;eYsenBaCH et al, 2001;BenIGeRI et al, 2003;GInMan et al, 2003;KoRP, 2004;ZIeBland, 2004a;GRIeRson et al, 2006). de fato, a internet é a mais completa e complexa fonte de informações na atualidade.…”

Continued Benefits of a Technical Assistance Web Site to Local Tobacco Control Coalitions During a State Budget Shortfall

“…The Internet may be a promising channel for supporting community capacity building and action. 46,47 Specifically, we compared this highly interactive Web site that employed a deep navigational structure ("Enhanced" Web site) to a noninteractive, text-based Web site with a flat navigational structure ("Basic" Web site) in a randomized trial enrolling 34 local tobacco control coalitions in Colorado formed in 2001 with MSA funds from STEPP. Previous analyses on posttest surveys completed by coalition members confirmed that the coalitions with access to the Enhanced Web site performed better than coalitions with access to the Basic Web site.…”