Evaluating Communities of Practice in Child and Youth Mental Health

Introductions Discuss with others at your table: –What are communities of practice? –What you would like to learn about CoPs today?

In this workshop, we ask… What are communities of practice (CoPs)? Why evaluate the work ofCoPs? How might we evaluate the work of CoPs?

What are communities of practice?

A brief overview… Subject (Domain) –A shared area of interest that provides a common focus –Shared competence in this area People (Community) –A group of people who interact in an ongoing way –Emphasis on relationships as the route to collective learning Action (Practice) –Practitioners who develop a set of shared resources (experiences, stories, tools for solving problems) –Emphasis on sustained interaction over time

Goals of a CoP Problem solving Growth and evolution of members Sharing information and experiences Reusing and recycling resources Evaluating information and developments Identifying gaps in knowledge

An Example: Triple P CoP Subject –Evaluation of Triple P programs in Ontario People –Service providers in charge of evaluating Triple P programs Action –An online portal for developing the evaluation framework; e-discussions and teleconferences; working towards common measures

CoP Collaboration Collaborations Often time-limited Goal: Concrete tasks determined by the group Communities of Practice Longer-term, ongoing Goals: Produce or manage knowledge Change practice

A Community of Practice Inventory COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE INVENTORY FORM ORGANIZATION: __________________________ DEPARTMENT OR UNIT: ____________________ DATE: ____________________________________ NameCoP NamePurposeLength of time CoP has existed Formally recognized? Frequency and type of meetings Continued…

In small groups… Identify one community of practice you are involved in and ask yourselves: –What is the subject or domain? –Who is involved? –What are the CoPs activities? –What are the CoPs goals?

Why evaluate the work of CoPs?

What do we want to know? Impact/Outcome What changes are produced by the CoP Process How the CoP works

Measuring Processes and Outcomes System Individual Practice Organization Profession Work of CoP (Process) Impact on Client/ Family (Outcomes) Sylvestre & Bendell, 2008

In small groups… Thinking about your community of practice, what goal do you want to evaluate? –How would you measure this goal? –How do you know you have achieved this goal? –Do you have any timelines for achieving this goal?

How might we measure processes? How is the group developing? –Assemble and Form –Storm and Order –Norm and Perform –Transform and Adjourn

How is the group working together? Networking, Cooperating, Partnering, Merging, Unifying (Rebecca Gajda, 2004) Awareness, Communication, Coordination, Collaboration (Gina Browne, 2004)

In small groups… Describe the processes in your community of practice… How it is developing (form, storm, perform, norm)? How it is working (networking, communicating, coordinating, collaborating)?

But what about outcomes?

In small groups… Describe the outcomes your community of practice might produce at different levels… –System –Organization –Profession –Individual practice How might you measure these?

Who do you need to talk to? What decisions need to be made? What actions need to be taken? How will the actions be evaluated? What will we do with what we know?

What did you find… Surprising? Important? Confusing? Applicable to the work you do?

FOR MORE INFORMATION Purnima Sundar, PhD Research and Knowledge Exchange Consultant , ext or