Toolkits
Our toolkits provide action-oriented practices to deepen the work of community engagement, practicing both foundational concepts and practical strategies. Foundational concepts challenge traditional approaches to how government entities, community organizations, and residents work with each other to put in place the policies that work best for the people experiencing the greatest health inequities. Practical strategies provided in an accessible resource inspire the adoption of new practices focused on how community engagement, if practiced differently, moves the needle towards equitable outcomes.
Foundations of Community Engagement
This toolkit defines core concepts related to health equity, mental models, power mapping, and youth development and applies those learnings to community engagement with the goal of broadening public health practitioners’ mental models to integrate approaches that intentionally include community voice and build community power.
The POWER Playbook: Actionable Steps for Engaging Community in Decision making
This playbook is a collection of insights, strategies, and real-world examples drawn from HRiA’s experiences supporting communities to use their American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) resources to improve their cities and towns. The playbook contains a series of POWER Plays—actions to increase resident decision-making power in municipal funding activities.
Each POWER Play introduces concepts, and offers practical ideas and discussion questions for implementation, complete with tools, templates, and real-world examples. Additional tools and resources are embedded throughout to deepen learning and offer additional guidance.
Health Departments: Temperature Check for Your Equity Journey
Examining internal equity efforts – and explicitly naming what is advancing or impeding the intended goals – is essential when approaching community engagement with an equity lens, as it ensures that the organization’s practices align with its commitment to equity. The Temperature Check (Temp Check) supports this process by providing a series of questions and discussion guides to spark conversation, facilitate reflection, articulate gaps, and explore next steps for improvement efforts. By using this tool, health departments can better align their internal policies, practices, and systems with their equity goals, fostering stronger, more authentic relationships with the communities they serve.
