6. Training Community Leaders - I
The community leaders were selected for their role as 'natural helpers', and for their desire to improve their skills to help women in the community (see selecting community leaders. To become effective lay health promoters in cancer screening, and to participate in research and community capacity building, they needed more training. This became a key activity of the first year of the demonstration project.
Assessing training needs
How could the project support the 'natural helpers' to enhance and develop their skills? What were their strengths, and how did they want to share these with other women? What knowledge needed to be upgraded? What kind of training experience would work best? To find answers to these questions, we undertook a number of activities to 'assess training needs'. These included a day-long workshop in which everyone's strengths, interests, and preferred styles of learning and teaching were discussed; individual conversations/interviews; assessment of oral and written English skills; and several written 'tests' of knowledge about health, cancer screening, community development, peer support, research, and lay health promotion. These are described more fully in the training evaluation. We also wanted the training to be based on training principles that were consistent with the practices and philosophy of all the partners in Mujer Sana.
Developing the training course
A key activity of the first year of the demonstration project was to develop and implement an intensive course to train community leaders as lay health promoters and participatory researchers. To look for similar courses or training programs, and to identify curriculum materials, we conducted a review of program documents and articles in Spanish and English. We did not find any training program already designed that combined lay health promotion, community development, participatory research, and a specific focus on women's health and cancer screening. We therefore developed a new training curriculum .
The course was taught in the fall of 2001, and consisted of 216 in-class hours, supplemented by 'field trips'. Participants also spent many hours outside the classroom, reading, doing homework, practicing skills, and working in groups to complete tasks and assignments. For a detailed plan of the course, look at the quick overview of training course.
Qualifications of the instructors
Three of the co-investigators in the demonstration project developed and taught the course. Two of the instructors were also LAZO madrinas with Spanish as their mother tongue, and the third understood some Spanish. Two instructors were the principals in Gentium Consulting with extensive experience in research and training; the third currently teaches at Carleton University in Ottawa. All three had a long history of adult education, community development, and participatory training, as well as formal academic instructional qualifications. In combining three sets of skills and experiences, we hoped to create a learning environment that would promote empowerment, enhance group solidarity, and increase technical skills and academic knowledge of the participants. The instruction was supplemented by participation from professionals working in the community, such as family doctors, immigrant services counselors, social workers, public health nurses, and health promoters. Many of these professionals also spoke Spanish, and were on the Advisory Committee.
Accreditation
When planning the training course, we were aware that many training programs are offered to immigrant women by community organizations. Many of the members of LAZO had participated in short courses at community centres or immigrant settlement agencies. Although useful, many of these courses are not valued by employers or recognized by educational institutions. We were motivated to do something different with the Mujer Sana project: ensure the natural helpers who completed the lay health promotion/participatory research course would receive a credit from a recognized post-secondary institution.
Negotiations with the Carleton University School of Social Work (SSW) led to the training being recognized as two half-credit courses at the second-year university level. This was an important achievement. The following factors may have helped:
