Caring Connections

Caring Connections

Community Engagement Resources

The following resources are available at the Caring Connections website – - for End-of-Life Care Coalitions, Hospices or other organizations to enhance and supplement community outreach and engagement efforts.

New Coalition Tools

Hospices and Coalitions (1 pg) - Outlines ten ways hospices benefit from participating in local end-of-life coalitions.

How to Start a Coalition (19 pgs) - Provides detailed 10-step approach to establish a coalition: 1. Gather a working group; 2. Select an area of focus; 3. Identify initial resources; 4. Assess community needs (includes a list of on-line statistical data sources); 5. Identify potential coalition members; 6. Invite members; 7. Develop coalition leadership; 8. Conduct the first meeting; 9. Develop a vision/mission; 10. Develop a strategic plan. Concludes with a look at evaluating coalition effectiveness. Reference tools at the end include a Coalition Resource Assessment worksheet, a Community Map, and a sample vision statement.

Membership Guidelines (2 pgs) - Describes the value of membership guidelines and provides questions to consider in three areas: systems and processes, member expectations, and member benefits.

Why Start a Coalition (1 pg) - Outlines five benefits of establishing a coalition.

Engaging Your Community Tools

Communicating End-of-Life Wishes (12 pgs) - Discusses conversation starters and provides questions to use. Provides “Personal Values History” group exercise with six-page worksheet.

Community Events Checklist (2 pgs) - Provides ten-step events outline: 1. Identify your vision; 2. Coordinate with other coalitions; 3. Start planning in advance; 4. Have an organized planning committee; 5. Identify resources to support the event; 6. Set goals; 7. Plan the event (four steps); 8. Promote and publicize the event; 9. Evaluate the outcomes; 10. Follow-up.

Convening Town Hall Meetings (14 pgs) - Details seven Town Hall Meeting planning steps: 1. Identifying the target audience and vision; 2. Determining the location and topic; 3. Setting the agenda; 4. Securing speakers; 5. Publicizing the event; 6. Event logistics; 7. Evaluating the outcomes (with seven approaches described). Concludes with sample discussion questions, a sample press release, and a fill-in-the-blank planning timetable.

Strategic Outreach with Printed Materials (2 pgs) - Discusses options for creating and distributing various printed materials.

Event Planning Tools (22 pgs) - Provides eight ready-to-use event models and tools: 1. A group exercise of questions about how society should care for the dying; 2. A group exercise of questions about how participants have experienced death situations; 3. Titles and descriptions of four potential workshop sessions; 4. Conference brochure language and schedule for a successful one-day end-of-life conference; 5. One-page schedule of a complementary therapies workshop; 6. Fill-in-the-blank event budget; 7. Fill-in-the-blank event planning timeline; 8. Sign-up form to invite future involvement of event participants.

Outreach Basics (2 pgs) - Identifies key considerations for outreach activities, in three areas: 1. Know your target; 2. Know yourself; 3. Know your stuff.

The Naturally Occurring Communities (NOC) Toolkit (78 pgs) - Describes a comprehensive process for engaging naturally occurring communities in conversations and action to improve end-of-life care. Sections include how to: 1. Recognize community characteristics and elements of strong communities; 2. Use strategies to mobilize communities; 3. Understand the mutual benefits of partnering with NOCs; 4. Identify potential NOC partners; 5. Develop relationships, learn about and work with NOCs; 6. Customize messages, products and services; 7. Evaluate your efforts; and 8. Sustain the partnership.

How To Market Your Coalition and Engage Your Community (25 pages) – Includes three sections with specific strategies and practical tools regarding 1. Marketing Audiences; 2. Message Architecture; and 3. Developing Your Marketing Plan.

Community Presentations

Who Cares? Dying in Our Community
Who Cares Presentation Overview (4 pgs) - Discusses how to use the presentation to ask for what you want and how to customize the presentation for different purposes, audiences, and time limits. It also includes information on how to work with PowerPoint.
Who Cares Presentation (20 slides) - Presentation using 74-year-old Mrs. Fields and her declining husband to describe the state of dying and what individuals and communities can do to improve it.
Case Study #1 (1 pg) - Case study about the 74-year-old Mrs. Fields coping on her own with her husband’s stroke and subsequent cancer.
Case Study #2 (1 pg) - Case study about the 74-year-old Mrs. Fields coping with community support with her husband’s stroke and subsequent cancer.

America’s Heroes: Caring for Veterans at the End of Life

National Hospice Month and Veterans Day Resources (9 pgs) - Includes a sample Veteran’s Recognition Program, a list of other groups to involve, a sample press release and a sample donation solicitation letter.
America’s Heroes Presentation (12-slide ppt) - PowerPoint presentation suitable for a broad range of audiences that covers the basics of hospice and discusses how to help veterans access good end-of-life care

Supporting Employees Facing End-of-Life Issues
Workplace Outreach Overview (2 pgs) - Describes how to use the Supporting Employees presentation with various audiences and time limits. Also includes technical information on working with PowerPoint.
Supporting Employees Presentation (16 slides) - PowerPoint presentation for employers that highlights the impact of caregiving and grief on employees and encourages and offers suggestions to employers to support their employees who are in caregiving or grief situations.

Only Human: The Faces of Caregiving

Using Only Human: The Faces of Caregiving (3 pgs) - Discusses customization of the Only Human outreach campaign and briefly describes each of the pieces of the campaign.
Only Human Overview (4 pgs) - Discuss how to use the Only Human presentation, in four parts: 1. Uses and audiences; 2. Emphasizing messages; 3. Appealing to the audience; 4. Technical information about PowerPoint.
Neighbor-to-Neighbor Caregiver Support (4 pgs) - Describes how to set up a caregiver support program, in five parts: 1. Your community; 2.Getting started; 3. Support for caregivers; 4. Getting organized (in six steps); 5. Formalizing your program.
Only Human Town Hall Meetings (3 pgs) - Describes how to use Only Human in a Town Hall Meeting setting, in five steps: 1. Target audience; 2. Location; 3. Agenda; 4. Presenters and speakers; 5. Partnerships; 6. Call to action
Implementation Plan and Time Line (2 pg) - Fill-in-the-blanks timeline worksheet for a caregiving event.
Outreach Calendar (1 pg) - Sample calendar showing outreach events by audience type and day of the week.
Sample Press Release (2 pg) - Sample press release for a caregiving town hall meeting.
Flyer (1 pg) - Sample promotional flyer for a caregiving event.
Only Human PowerPoint Presentations
For General Public (22 slides) - Presentation on caregiver issues using stories and statistics to illustrate the needs of caregivers and engage the audience in helping to meet those needs.
For Employers (25 slides) - Presentation on caregiver issues using stories and statistics to illustrate the needs of caregivers and engage the audience in helping to meet those needs—focused on employers’ responses.
For Healthcare Professionals (25 slides) - Presentation on caregiver issues using stories and statistics to illustrate the needs of caregivers and engage the audience in helping to meet those needs—focused on healthcare professionals’ responses.
For Faith Communities (24 slides) - Presentation on caregiver issues using stories and statistics to illustrate the needs of caregivers and engage the audience in helping to meet those needs—focused on faith communities’ responses.

Sustainability Tools

Become a Money Magnet (3 pgs) - Brief outline in four steps: 1. Identify potential donors; 2. Inform them about your goals; 3. Invite them to give you money; 4. Involve them in your activities. Also includes links to eleven fundraising-related websites.

Coalition Sustainability Quiz (3 pgs) - A twenty-question worksheet and scoring sheet to evaluate the strength of your coalition, with questions in seven areas: 1. Community involvement; 2. Membership recruitment/retention/recognition; 3. Evaluation; 4. Funding; 5. Vision/mission/goals; 6. Leadership 7. Coalition building/teamwork.

Coalition Sustainability Quiz Score Sheet (1 pg) - A Coalition Sustainability Quiz worksheet for coalition members to complete.

All the documents listed above were graciously provided by The Hospice of the Florida Suncoast.