The Coalition to Transform Advanced Care’s (C-TAC) purpose is to reorient and reshape healthcare delivery for those with advanced illness. C-TAC desires this delivery to be high-quality, comprehensive, person/family-centered, and supported with aligned payment models.¹

Achieving this purpose will not be easy and is part of a much longer journey. Always remember, you are not alone. Leaders across the country have been in similar positions or are there now, building coalitions to drive transformational change.

In order to accomplish C-TAC’s purpose, several things are required:

• Engaging and equipping individuals and communities to change and personalize the healthcare system
• Enhancing the knowledge and awareness of healthcare providers about person/family-centered care
• Improving public and payment models to help support this type of system

Community Engagement is “the process of working collaboratively with, and through, groups of people affiliated by geographic proximity, special interest, or similar situations to address issues affecting the well-being of people.”²

Community Engagement is accomplished through the creation of partnerships and coalitions that:

• Help mobilize resources
• Influence systems
• Change relationships among partners
• Serve as catalysts for changing policies, programs, and practices.

Partnerships and collaborations that result from community engagement often adopt elements of a collective impact approach. These elements include:

• A shared purpose and agenda
• Mutually reinforcing activities
• Continuous communication
• Shared results and accountability

A collective impact approach brings together community leaders and practitioners to improve outcomes.³ This approach uses:

• Data to integrate effective practices across programs and systems
• Advocacy for best practices to accomplish goals and impact

The use of a backbone organization may be of benefit to your project. A backbone organization is an organization already in existence, which is already doing similar or complementary work in the area of interest. A backbone organization would consist of staff that coordinates all the initiatives and efforts amongst participating organizations.⁴

Reorienting and reshaping the health care system requires engaging the community and striving for collective impact.

The C-TAC Toolkit:

• Will provide an overall framework for community engagement
• Will help guide communities through the process
• Can be digested in bite-size pieces and used at a pace that is self-directed
• Can be used to initiate the process or address a specific issue

The C-TAC Toolkit includes:

• Ideas and suggestions that can help you how to foster and create community engagement
• An overview of resources and tools that can be used to assist with planning and community action
• Templates of the resources and tools
• Instructions and guidelines about how to use the resources and tools
• Case Studies from communities across the U.S. that are creating action

The C-TAC toolkit is designed to help individuals and communities:

• Identify potential candidates and recruit a leadership group
• Establish clear goals
• Communicate those goals and a shared vision
• Develop and implement outreach strategies
• Create and implement a plan of action
• Measure impact and share with stakeholders
• Grow the effort, and evolve plans, as needed
• Manage relationships with stakeholders on an ongoing basis

Before jumping in, determine where you are in the process. If you are thinking about starting an effort in your area, then Module 1 is the right place for you. If you have groups that are 6 already working on pieces of the agenda or have already brought a group together, Module 1, Chapter 1.2 would be useful to help you think about setting clear goals. If you are looking for ways to communicate your project and its impact, module 2 will provide you with ideas. If you have been underway for some time, you should think about where you have the greatest need and then look to Module 3 and 4.

One of the best ways to assess which modules may be best for you is to scan the summaries and look at the reflection questions and action steps for the chapters and sessions. These give you a sense of the steps that you can take, without having to read through the whole Companion Guide. Included in Module 4 are a series of templates and tools for your reference and use. You may just be looking for one of these, in which case the Companion Guide Appendix is the best place to find these. You may have other tools you have found useful. The most important thing as you do this work is to use the tools that are best suited for your needs.

The C-TAC Community Engagement Toolkit is designed to help you not only get started but also can be used to help drive continuous improvement. It is recommended you periodically assess your goals, make adjustments and plan for your future. This may be done annually. In doing so, it is useful to go back to the relevant sections of this Toolkit.

Stop the video. Take time to answer the following Reflection Questions:

1. Review Helping Hand 1. Is there or are there organizations in your community, already addressing your issue, that you might approach as a backbone organization?
2. Review Helping Hand 2. Where do you see yourself in the process in your effort of change? What chapter are you going to view next?