4.3 Dealing With The Unexpected
Often
the greatest learning from a mental health promotion project
is the difference between what you plan and what you actually
do -- the proposal for a project is really just a "best
guess". Although planning is very important, it’s done
in the abstract. The ability of your project to adapt to the
changing issues and realities of the community is the best
indication of successful implementation.
There
are bound to be changes in your mental health promotion program
during the implementation stage. Although change is a natural
part of the process and shouldn’t necessarily be perceived
as threatening, unexpected change can be disconcerting. In
this section we’ll look at a few of the most common changes
that your initiative may be faced with and some ideas about
how to deal with these changes.
Losing
participants
Most community
groups go through a stage when they begin to lose members
and flounder a bit, as the initial energy and enthusiasm gives
way to more tedious tasks. This can be compounded by the perceived
risk of failure. Any difference in perception of goals will
become evident at this stage, and sometimes conflicts arise
among group members.
This stage
is a normal part of the community process -- some turnover
should be expected, and may even be healthy. Unfortunately,
the loss of some participants may be discouraging to those
who are sticking it out.
In order
to keep the energy and momentum of your group alive during
those times when people are starting to drift away, it’s important
to keep in mind that some loss is natural. If you make sure
to develop new leadership and involve new people as you go,
you will be able to take these changes in stride.
When
your project changes course
A project
may take on new meanings and direction as it progresses; it
may spark a new initiative, one that more closely reflects
the mental health needs of the participants. The Seniors Medicine
Wheel project did just that, as we’ll see in the following
example.
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The
Elders who attended the Medicine Wheel program came
to receive information on the services and supports
that were available to them in the community, and to
spend time with others who shared their culture and
concerns.
While
the program was successful in sharing this important
information, and providing Aboriginal Elders a welcoming
and warm environment in which to meet, staff and participants
were left feeling that information alone would not help
to empower the Elders to take greater control of their
health. Something was missing.
The
Eiders continued to come to weekly meetings, along with
the staff member who had started the group. The program
had initially brought them together to talk about their
own health needs, but increasingly, the Elders began
to discuss their shared concern for the children in
their community, and their sense of responsibility for
the emotional, spiritual and physical health of the
younger generations.
Simply
by meeting and sharing their feelings and experiences,
the Elders gained the confidence to become more involved
in the lives of young people in a positive way. The
Medicine Wheel project was conceived as one that would
bring Elders and services together, but became one that
brought generations together. The Elders transformed
the Medicine Wheel project into an initiative that addressed
the needs of the community in a truly holistic way.
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As the
story of the Seniors’ Medicine Wheel program illustrates,
things don’t always turn out exactly as planned. Sometimes
community initiatives veer off course and lose momentum, but
other times, instead of fizzling out, they grow and transform
into new, more meaningful projects that genuinely improve
life for people in the community.
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