Innovation in Coalition Building Resources

While Institute training sessions help coalition leaders design targeted plans of action, the next step in the process is ensuring that this information is communicated effectively to other coalition members and the community. True population-level change occurs when all members of a coalition effort are fully informed and knowledgeable of effective strategies to address substance abuse problems.

CADCA's National Coalition Institute provides coalitions with a number of resources and coalition-specific training materials to achieve this goal.

According to Dr. Eduardo Hernández-Alarcón, Deputy Director of Dissemination and Coalition Relations for CADCA’s National Coalition Institute and its Vice President of International Programs, the use of hands-on, comprehensive resources is crucial to a coalition’s success. As Deputy Director, Hernández’s duties involve ensuring that coalitions know about effective community problem-solving strategies and the resources offered by the Institute.

“Our department’s overall goal is to make coalitions more effective and faster in achieving their goals,” said Hernández. “We provide coalitions with evidence-based resources designed to give them essential skills to do their jobs and to do them well.”

One core strength of Hernández’s department lies in the advances of its publications, making the Institute a leader in the field of coalition-specific materials. Its primer series serves as a solid presentation of all the elements found in the Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF), while the Beyond the Basics publications cover more specific topics as they relate to coalitions. These materials focus substance abuse problems through the lens of collaborative community sectors instead of individual programs. The department is currently developing a new publication in this series on “systems change.”

“If you want to make real change in communities with substance abuse, the system needs to be altered,” said Hernández. “Coalitions really need to view themselves as change agents.”

These series are easily available to coalitions electronically through CADCA’s website or by request for print materials, making resources accessible in large numbers and different formats.

Hernández’s department is also in the forefront of coalition communication strategies through the innovation of social media. Communication channels are shifting from pamphlets and flyers to blogs and tweets, and the Institute works closely to apply these evolving media to coalition work. In addition to the production of a social media publication, CADCA operates its own social networking site, Connected Communities, designed for coalitions to share advice, stories and multimedia to enhance their reach and capacity. The community currently has nearly 1400 members, a good number of which represent international initiatives in various other countries.

In the same vein, Hernández and his department look to the future of coalition communication through the development of new audio and video podcast series, set to launch in the coming months. Hernández believes these new series will ensure that individuals who cannot attend trainings receive the latest information to adapt their coalitions’ strategies.

“We need to use different forms of media to make resources as user-friendly and convenient as possible,” he said. “Our challenge is to reach the community coalition partners and members who are the real backbone of effective coalition work, not just the paid staff.”

To learn more about the Institute’s resource materials, e-mail institute@cadca.org or visit www.cadca.org .