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Table 3 Results: KSDPP’s evolution in terms of movement-building benchmarks

From: Understanding community-based participatory research through a social movement framework: a case study of the Kahnawake Schools Diabetes Prevention Project

Stages

/Core components

Base building and mobilization

Leadership

Vision and frames

Alliances, partnerships, networks

Advocacy agenda and action strategy

Stage 1 – KSDPP’s emergence (Early 1987 – mid-1997)

Benchmarks

- Participation of both paid and volunteer leaders is beginning in base-building organizations;

- Reflection time and assessment are built into the movement activities

- Movement leaders and the roles they play emerge and are recognized within the movement;

- Leaders are supported to develop their skills, roles and visibility

- A process for creating a shared analysis of the problem is developed;

- Movement organizations develop strategic plans with explicit movement goals;

- Alliance anchors increase organizations capacity;

- Capacity for collaboration is developed

- Needed skills and organizational capacities are identified and developed

Evidence of achievement

- Kahnawake community leaders and elders start to mobilize and seek the collaboration of academic partners.

- The Community Advisory Board (CAB) is formed with more than 40 volunteering people, representing a wide spectrum of local organisations, services, and the community at large.

- All the partners take the time to collectively develop the project’s vision and the terms and conditions of the partnership.

- Community leaders, including elders and family physicians that raised the alarm about diabetes, invite academic researchers to join the partnership for their expertise in community research.

- The intervention team is staffed by two full-time community members, chosen for their leadership in the community. These staff members can acquire new skills and enhance their competencies through formal training.

- In the early beginnings, a community awareness process allows to shift the perception of diabetes from a matter of fact to a community issue that can be acted on.

- After acquiring funding, the partnership defines a shared vision that proposed an ideal for Kahnawake and lays the ground for strategic goals.

- The terms and conditions of the participatory research process are collaboratively developed through a Code of Ethics.

- KSDPP developed from the alliance of community-based professionals coming from the Kahnawake Education Centre and the Kateri Memorial Hospital Centre, as well as researchers from McGill University and Université de Montréal.

- The newly formed CAB included volunteers from multiple sectors of the community, that increased capacity for collaboration with local health, education, recreation, and community service organisations.

- Formal training in various areas for community and staff members develop new skills and increased capacities.

- KSDPP provided opportunities for community collaborators to acquire new skills (e.g. new health curriculum delivered by the teachers).

Stage 2 – KSDPP’s coalescence (mid-1997 - 2000)

Benchmarks

- New leaders are recruited;

- New members and constituencies are recruited and the base expand

- Collaborative leadership philosophy is widely adopted by movement leaders;

- Leaders of the movement are respected for their different roles and responsibilities within the movement

- Movement leaders develop shared values, motivations, and interests;

- Movement values and priorities begin to gain salience outside of the movement

- Number, breadth, and capacity of alliances are strengthened;

- Joint strategic planning and identification of priorities among anchor organizations occurs;

- Trust is built among alliance members

- Identification of collective action goals;

- Collaborative fundraising and sharing of resources increase

Evidence of achievement

- Important community leaders (the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake, Kahnawake Shakotiia’takehnhas Community Services, and the Kahnawake Education Center) commit to KSDPP and provide funds to enable KSDDP’s action.

- Teachers began to be more comfortable with the new curriculum and are committed to the cause of KSDPP.

- KSDPP implements a participatory /collaborative and non-hierarchical style of governance.

- Respectful relationships of collaboration are established between partners.

- KSDPP translates its vision into a full and workable action strategy that build and integrate traditional and cultural values.

- The fact that community partners provide funds to KSDPP is a good indicator of KSDPP’s values and priorities being accepted and prioritized by community actors.

- At that time, half of activities are conducted by KSDPP independently whereas half result from collaborative partnerships between KSDPP and partners.

- Community members and organisations bring in their knowledge of the community, and contribute ideas on how best to carry out the activities in which they are involved.

- Trust and respect characterize the relationships with the education system.

- The intervention team establishes core of intervention activities and develops a good experience in implementing these within the community.

- Collaboration allows partners to optimize community resources, share responsibilities and support each other’s efforts.

Stage 3 – KSDPP’s moment (2001–2006)

Benchmarks

- Power and leadership of the movement are recognized by the community base;

- Movement experiences rapid recruitment and growth

- Movement leaders are recognized by public institutions and political institutions

- Public support of the meta-narrative increases;

- Political will for movement goals significantly increases;

- Proposed benchmark: Increasing dissemination of the program vision and goals

- Movement organizations share resources;

- Movement builds relationships with other movements;

- Proposed benchmark: Movement enlarges its scope

- Major initiatives advance and are implemented;

- Proposed benchmark: Collective action reaches a peak

Evidence of achievement

- During this stage, KSDPP benefits from deep community roots and recognition.

- Kahnawake is recognized as a diabetes prevention leader among First Nations communities across Canada and internationally.

- KSDPP secures funding to develop the KSDPP Center for Research and Training in Diabetes Prevention, this acknowledging KSDPP experience, expertise and leadership in this field.

- KSDPP staff and research team members are elected at important positions in national diabetes and international research networks.

- KSDPP becomes more active and extensively spread its vision locally and nationally through participation in national forums addressing diabetes and health issues for Indigenous people.

- The newly created Onkwatakaritatshera health research council acknowledges KSDPP’s CAB as a valid and autonomous ethics authority for diabetes research prevention and adds KSDPP’s code of research ethics to their toolkit.

- KSDPP’s program of activities, already collaborative in nature, continues to build on partners’ strengths, allowing to increase both the reach and intensity of the program.

- KSDPP’s program expands to include preschool children and engages adolescents in youth empowerment projects.

- Partnerships with local organizations broaden to include local businesses.

- KSDPP’s collective action strategy reaches a peak, building on a core program of activities that has achieved maturity and the addition of other activity components.

- More than 100 different interventions target individuals of all ages, families, organizations and political groups.

Stage 4 – KSDPP’s maintenance and integration (2007 - now)

Benchmarks

- Proposed benchmark: Mobilization slows down and the movement appears less visible

- New generation of leadership emerges and builds capacities

- Norms change and the vision becomes widely shared among public and political leaders

- Proposed benchmark : Capacity-building of the partners allows for transfer of responsibilities

- Movement’s priorities and advocacy agenda are more widely accepted and continue to drive agendas of movement organizations and partners

Evidence of achievement

- Decrease in resources, coupled with a lack of novelty, rendered KSDPP less visible.

- Community mobilization slowly decreases.

- Some administrative environments in the community become less sensitive to KSDPP’s action.

- A new generation of leaders in different components of the partnership, including KSDPP staff and research team, is slowly emerging.

- The vision promoted by KSDPP (a healthy community free of diabetes) and the norm underlying this vision (diabetes is a preventable disease) are adopted by many community members.

- Community partners are now taking over some of the responsibilities initially held by KSDPP (e.g. school physical activity policy, active school transportation project).

- KSDPP’s agenda is integrated into those of some partnering organisations, such as schools.