Table 6 Key informant interview results

Overall Experience

• The overall experience was positive

“For the congregation, the people we spoke to, the people I spoke to, are very enthusiastic with what we shared with them and that we are going to continue. We were recognized as a group that had a successful six months”

“Knowledge. Not so much about the health. I think my eating habits have probably worsened. But it made me care about my health. I use my pedometer and I want to get fit. So those are the things. I learned patience. I am retired so it was interesting working on a project like this and using all the skills that one acquires I guess.”

Civic Engagement Piece

• Many participants noted positive aspects related to connecting with others in the group and being motivated by them

• Working within a familiar neighborhood and community (that of the church) facilitated the group project

• Time was the biggest challenge to participation

“It was wonderful we worked together we were cooperative and everyone had assignments and there was a leader basically but everyone had a strength in something was how it worked for our group.”

“We met on Sundays and sometimes that time became a crunch time because some of the members had other committee meetings to attend other members lived in other places.”

“Quite a few people in our Change Club, at least two, are native Bostonians. Because they’re native Bostonians then they know the area, they know people. I think out of the group all of us are familiar with different segments, and I think all of us are … voters, so I think all of us kind of knew where we could go.”

Group Dynamics

• Strengths that individual Change Club members brought to the group were acknowledged and appreciated

• The group was at times viewed as greater than the sum of its parts

• Positive social connections were made

• It was sometimes challenging to manage differing views

• There was concern about uneven participation by group members

“The team itself we had a good coach and the individual people who participated everyone was willing to share. And learn from each other and everyone had to contribute everyone made a contribution.”

“We had one person who was like a walking encyclopedia—we don’t have encyclopedias anymore, but—she was full of resources and I knew if we needed to know anything, she would know.”

“Everybody knew that any idea was welcome on the floor and sometimes we ran up on a solution that would not have come about if it weren’t for the freedom to brainstorm, so I definitely think people communicated very well.”

“In the end I cared and I didn’t expect to care so much. You know ‘I’ll never see these women again. Our lives are very different.’ And just move on, but it didn’t turn out that way.”

“When people were pushed against the wall, or when questions were asked, I mean people just shut down. Trying to engage everybody and bring them back in when someone shut down because they didn’t agree with what was going or they felt uncomfortable.”

“I think we had people who could be insensible. People who weren’t really committed. At times I felt I was overbearing and over-dominating and very focused on trying to get the task completed. There was gridlock sometimes, we had reach an impasse and I had to call [our original facilitator] to intervene and run some things past her.”