In 1994, community and behavioral psychologists at the University of
Kansas had a vision to
increase people’s well-being:
Teach them to help themselves
and their own communities
by ensuring free, open access
to community-building tools.
That idea sparked what has
now become the comprehensive, 7,000-page Community Tool
Box (CTB) website ( http://ctb.ku.edu), which offers a wealth
of free resources and guidance on how to tackle community
problems such as poor nutrition, poverty, disease and violence.
To ensure greater access, the CTB is now available in English,
Spanish and Arabic, with prospects for additional languages.
“Each learning module in the CTB, such as how to
conduct an assessment or plan for sustainability, is grounded
in principles of psychology and behavioral science: clear
descriptions of tasks, examples and checklists,” says Stephen
Fawcett, PhD, professor in the department of applied behavioral
science as well as co-founder of the Community Tool Box
and co-director of its host organization, the Work Group
for Community Health
and Development at the
University of Kansas. “The
core idea is to provide
free access to tools for
community building — for
people we will never meet,
in places we could never be,”
Fawcett added.
The toolbox’s strength is
that no one has to fear working in isolation, explains Christina
Holt, director of CTB services at the work group. Holt adds
that the CTB also helps community leaders learn from others’
experiences. “The skills to assess, plan, evaluate and sustain
efforts can be applied to a variety of issues.”
Among the groups that have relied on CTB’s guidance is
Healthy People 2020, the federal project tasked with improving
health outcomes for all U.S. citizens. Healthy People used CTB’s
resources to prepare its employees and volunteers to mobilize,
assess, plan, implement and track local, state and national
health-care projects.
“It is a win/win situation because partners don’t have to
recreate the wheel,” Holt says. “And we get these resources into
health or development problem?
The Community Tool Box is here to help.
BY DIANE RUSSELL GIRARDOT
in action
Community
psychology
