4. Project implementation and structure III
Human resources
The most important resource for this project were the women who worked on it. In the planning stage, a number of different part-time positions and consultancies were proposed. We anticipated a set of discrete and distinct tasks and responsibilities for each one. In practice, many of the roles overlapped; new tasks and responsibilities emerged; and everyone contributed many days of work, beyond those for which they were paid, to make it a success.
Project Coordinator
The Project Coordinator played a critical role. Her position required multiple tasks, including organizing and liaising with committees; responding to the media and other requests from the public; organizing outreach events such as the graduation and health fair assisting with logistics of the training implementation; supervising Lay Health Promoters, including personal support; participating in data collection; coordinating the project's volunteers; and many administrative tasks, such as overseeing the project budget. Public relations, direct community problem-solving, and individual advocacy required considerably more time than anticipated. A half-time position proved insufficient, especially given the unexpectedly high volume of community requests for information and assistance, as the project became more visible and as CCHC became identified as a place where some staff might speak Spanish. As a result, a greater share of overall planning, and coordination of research tasks in relation to programming and project implementation, was taken on by the Co-investigators from LAZO and Gentium. Go to job description: project coordinator for more detail.
Co-investigators
Three of the partner organizations provided the four Co-investigators: Gentium, LAZO, and the Community Health Research Unit. The Co-investigators were responsible for planning and implementing the project's participatory action research component. This included working closely with the community and other members of the project to develop the conceptual frameworks, research design, and methods; also developing and testing bilingual (Spanish and English) tools such as surveys, interview schedules, logs, client forms. They also needed to be intimately involved in all aspects of the project, and gave guidance and supervision to LHP/PRs in ongoing data collection and analysis. Co-investigators prepared frequent reports of preliminary findings, ensuring that research learnings were fed back as quickly as possible to inform implementation of programming activities. This method created strong and dynamic links between emerging knowledge and action, leading to new questions for research. This process is often used in participatory action research. The LAZO Co-investigator shared an office with the Project Coordinator at Centretown Community Health Centre. This arrangement allowed for ongoing communication, sharing tasks, and mutual support between these two central members of the team.
Go to About us for more information on Co-investigators' qualifications and expertise.
Lay Health Promoters/Participatory Researchers (LHP/PRs)
Lay Health Promoters/Participatory Researchers were the essential ingredient in implementing the Mujer Sana - Comunidad Sana project. Selecting LHP/PRs required analysis of the needs and situation of the community, and a process that would respect and be consistent with the conceptual frameworks that guided the project. The Hispanic community in Ottawa has many skilled, hard-working, and motivated women, linked to their community, who could become stronger leaders, better health educators, and also benefit from participating in this project.
Selection principles
The number of women who could be involved in a paid capacity was limited. How could we choose which women would be offered this chance? We relied on the principles of promoting empowerment, increasing opportunity, and working towards social justice to help us identify and select the Lay Health Promoters/Participatory Researchers.
Spreading the work and the pay to benefit as many women as possible:
This has been a fundamental principle of LAZO as a community group. Although we originally budget for eight Lay Health
Promoters/Participatory Researchers, we recruited 12 excellent candidates, and stretched the budget by sharing work
hours and negotiating benefits, so that all were offered a position. This recognizes the precarious economic situation
of the Latin American population in Ottawa,
and the importance for many of getting 'Canadian' experience in other than the
service sector.
Respecting volunteerism and commitment in recruitment and selection:
Volunteers and group members had priority in getting paid work. Although often
when a project gets funded, all positions are open for competition, in this
case, since LAZO had initiated the whole project, the core group of six community
leaders were offered first choice at the paid positions. The community leaders,
all women with limited economic resources, had made sacrifices over many years
already to contribute to the development of the group and the community. All
six
leaders took advantage of this opportunity. One of the madrinas
was selected by the group to become one of
the co-investigators in the project.
Offering opportunities to others:
LAZO approved that an additional six women should be selected from the community through an open competition.
(Note: The positions of the project co-ordinator, administrative assistant, and research assistants were also opened to
competition.) We developed a job description and
advertisements for the positions in English and Spanish. These were posted in
many prominent locations frequented by the Hispanic community. The position were
also advertised in
the local Spanish newspapers. Word-of-mouth also was used for recruitment. Thirty-five
applications were received, and
ten selected for further interviewing.
Qualifications should reflect the reality of the community and its
needs:
Literacy in English and Spanish was
required, but no other formal educational qualifications were assessed. Criteria
to assess written applications were
developed, as well as an assessment sheet for
the interviews. Applicants' previous experience working and volunteering with
communities, in Canada and/or in their own country of origin, was an important
selection criterion.
Applicants were also expected to join LAZO, if they were not already members.
The interviews were conducted in both English and Spanish. Two of the co-investigators
participated in the interview process, as well as one of the health
promoters at CCHC.
Role and responsibilities of LHP/PRs
The Lay Health Promoters/Participatory Researchers played a very significant role in this project. They became the bridges between marginalized women and the health and social services community. Across this health promotion 'bridge' travelled information to women about the importance of cancer screening, and support to access services. In the other direction also went information to agencies about women's needs, and support to remove barriers to services. As participatory researchers, the LHP/PRs helped design the research to focus on questions that were important to the community. They helped develop and test tools to ensure they were culturally and linguistically accessible. They collected data from community members that is generally inaccessible to 'mainstream researchers' because of the language barrier. In addition, they helped to build the capacity of the community, by formulating and clarifying their needs, directing them to the services and organizations that have responsibility to serve them, and advocating so that these services were more accessible. They participated on all committees, provided insights into community needs on an ongoing basis, and gave presentations about the project during public events. The capacity of the community is also strengthened by having more skilled and informed community women, who serve as models to others about what can be accomplished. Go to Stories to find out more about the experiences of the LHP/PRs
Administrative assistance
A part-time administrative assistant, from the Hispanic community, was hired for the duration of the project. She assisted with the many administrative tasks at the CCHC site, including supporting the Project Coordinator, helping in the organizational aspects of meetings, typing some of the committee minutes and being available on the phone. As well as providing administrative assistance, she helped with communications, outreach, and responding to requests from the Hispanic community. In addition, she provided administrative, language and computer support to LHP/PRs, helped to translate and transcribe many documents, and took part in organizing different events, such as the Graduation Party and the Health Festival. Administrative assistance was also provided by Gentium Consulting clerical staff, for training-related and research management asks.
Data entry assistance
Data entry for the major quantitative surveys was undertaken at Gentium Consulting, by clerical staff seconded to the project. Two LHP/PRs were also trained and supervised at the Gentium site to enter data from one set of questions (interview field notes checklist). A part-time data entry clerk, from the Hispanic community, was hired in the last months of the project, to enter information from CCHC client charts, and from intake forms collected by Centretown Community Health Centre and the Ontario Breast Screening Program. She had been involved as a volunteer with Mujer Sana for many months previously.
Research assistance
Three student research assistants were hired during the two summers of the project. These young people, with roots in the Hispanic community, helped with the collection and review of documents, literature review, data management and entry of surveys, and compilation of preliminary results. They also provided support during the project evaluation and report writing phase. They were supervised by the CHRU Co-investigator and by Gentium. A research assistant from the Hispanic community also was employed to administer the final round of LHP/PR interviews, for evaluation purposes. She was supervised by, and worked closely with, the LAZO Co-investigator.
Grant writing assistance
All partners were supportive of seeking continuing funding for various spin-offs from the Mujer Sana/Comunidad Sana project. Tight timelines for grant proposals and the pressing needs of completing this phase of the project resulted in the Project Team and the Transfer and Sustainability having limited time to go beyond the conceptual stage and identification of possible funders. A consultant was contracted for three months to assist with the development and writing of grant proposals. She worked very closely with the Manager of Health Promotion, the Project Co-ordinator, and the LAZO Co-investigator in these tasks.
Translation assistance
Two of the Co-investigators, the Project Coordinator, and the Administrative Assistant were involved in translating many documents throughout the project's life, responding quickly to the need for bilingual information. In addition, translators from the Hispanic community were contracted to translate a small number of Spanish interviews to English, and the text of this web-site (English to Spanish, and Spanish to English).
Graphic design assistance
A graphic designer from the Latin American community was contracted on two occasions. She worked closely with the Project Team, especially the Project Co-ordinator, and a visual artist who is a member of LAZO, to design the project logo; and with Gentium Consulting to design and put up this web-site.
