Information Sharing and Consultation with Hard To Reach Groups - Research Proposal Example

Information Sharing and Consultation with Hard To Reach Groups Name Course Tutor Date Information Sharing and Consultation with Hard To Reach Groups Executive Summary Information sharing involves the dissemination of information to citizens, groups or members of a chosen community, from either the government, community leaders or various community based partnerships. Information sharing can either be active or passive (Dawes, 1996). People can obtain and pass information passively through means such as telephone, e-mails and print media. Active information sharing involves carrying out activities such as open-days or education and awareness forums. Community consultation on the other hand is a more rigorous method of acquiring information. This is because both parties (the sender and receiver) are involved. They exchange views, come up with policies and make decisions together on matters affecting them. An example is when a company seeks the views and opinions of a particular community on the effect that a company establishment might have on their social lives, health and overall economy. Consultation is important as it enables people who have a direct or significant interest on a matter to have a say in that matter (Franz & Larson, 2002) Introduction The major goal of information sharing and community consultation is to ensure that the public has an input on matters affecting them. The importance of information sharing and consultation is that it leads to: improved co-ordination and integration, better communication and participation, the development of efficient processes for plan making and review, public involvement in making laws and policies and more transparent action on the part of those implementing projects. Hard to reach groups in a community are those groups which are marginalized and socially excluded or stigmatized (Sadler, et.al, 2010). These may include: HIV positive people, drug addicts, people with sexuality issues such as the gay, transgender and bisexual, the poor and the black community in some countries. The definition of the term largely depends on the country or organization in which it is used or applied to. For instance in the United Kingdom, the homeless people may be considered as hard to reach since they do not easily associate with other people because of their living standards, yet this might not be the case in other countries. It is important to intensively research these groups (Franz & Larson, 2002). Communities face a number of barriers that make engagement with governments and other community based partnerships difficult (Dawes, 1996). These problems include: attitudinal problems, a negative previous experience of engagement, lack of confidence, lack of money, lack of knowledge of rights, language barriers, apathy towards a particular issue and mental or physical issues among others. Outreach Methods Some of the methods of information sharing and their advantages and disadvantages include: 1. Advertisements Advertising needs a lot of input and creativity. It involves the senders of information distributing information by putting it in the target audience’s languages and formats that can be easily understood. The information can be distributed through television, media and print. It is an effective way of sharing information provided the information is precise, accurate and relevant. Advertisements can be targeted to selected groups of people thus it is efficient in reaching the groups considered hard to reach (Wittenbaum, 2004). When advertising, it is important to consider the form of media that the hard to reach group may access for example people with physical disabilities can easily access information through television and radio more readily as opposed to print media. Advantages: It usually has a wide coverage Might be less costly as compared to other means of information sharing methods Advertisements can be tailored to suit the needs of the hard to reach group. For example it can be made in many languages so as to be understood by all. Disadvantages May be an expensive way of sharing information especially when using television It is a one-sided method. This is because the recipient of the information have no say on its contents and the effect it might have on them. 2. Online information sharing According to Acquisti and Gross, (2006) websites such as Facebook are a revolutionary and important means for sharing information with the public and target communities. The information provided can be directed to all the members of the hard to reach groups and can be translated to other languages to facilitate information provision (Simmons, 2008). Other electronic information sharing processes include online discussions, online surveys and interactive websites. Advantages: Many people can easily access the information distributed this way since many people have computers It is a cheap method of sharing information Changes to the information being distributed can be made quickly Disadvantages: Not all the members of the target group have reliable access to the information Continuous update to the information is necessary 3. Briefings Briefing defines a meeting at which detailed information or instructions are given. The information conveyed this way is usually short and precise (Lee et.al, 2000). Briefing helps to keep the target group informed and up-to-date on the progress of community projects and other activities. Advantages: It is a good way to grow and foster a relationship with the members of the hard to reach groups It is usually an efficient way of making sure that issues are identified and solved timely. Disadvantages: Sufficient notification has to be given to ensure that community members are aware of the briefing 4. Education and awareness programs Education is the process of facilitating learning, acquisition of knowledge and skills. Education may take place in formal or informal gathering. Raising awareness on the other hand is making people feel or be aware of events, circumstances or conditions surrounding them that might affect them in one way or the other. For example educating the community regarding the rights of people with disabilities. Advantages: It can be used to impart skills and knowledge by providing factual information It supports community development Disadvantages: It does not foster two-way relationships since the people being educated might not have the liberty to ask questions or participate in the process The information being delivered might not be accepted by some groups of people for example giving facts from the Bible against same sex marriages might not be acceptable to all Can be expensive since there is need to hire skilled people to deliver the information There are many consultation techniques this is because it is important to use a wide variety in order to get a wider range of opinions: 1. Discussion groups and workshops A discussion group is a group of individuals with similar interest who gather either formally or informally to bring up ideas, solve problems or give comments. The major approaches are in person, via conference call or website. A workshop is somehow similar to discussion groups but lays a lot of emphasis on exchange of ideas, the demonstration and application of skills and techniques. Members from a specific group can be sampled so as to pick the right participants. Advantages: Can be used to target specific members of the hard to reach groups The community can apply their skills and techniques to come up with new and improved ways of doing things Can be used as a way to build relationships with the group Disadvantages: The sample may not be a fair representation of the community The information obtained from such may be widely disputed and hence difficult to analyze and come up with a conclusion It may be expensive since the services of skilled personnel may be required in analyzing and collecting the data 2. One-on-one interviews Interviews are question and answer sessions whereby the interviewer asks the interviewee questions and expects answers. Interviews may either be one-on-one, carried out over the telephone or group interviews (Lee et.al, 2000). The questions asked can either be open-ended or closed. In open interviews the interviewee can give his/ her opinion on the questions asked while in closed interviews the questions need precise answers for example yes or no. Open-ended questions provide more information and is therefore more suitable in cases of community consultation. Face-to-face interviews are crucial since they provide more in-depth responses from the interviewee. The interviewee can be able to gather additional information from the body language and gestures of the interviewee concerning a given topic. Advantages: It has a wide coverage since the questions can be modified to suit the target group It provides qualitative information since the interviewee can be able to gather more useful information from the interviewer’s gestures and facial expressions The relationship between the interviewer and the interviewee can be developed. There is also increased co-ordination between the parties. Through the exchange of ideas and views between the interviewer and the interviewee there is increased knowledge on both sides. Disadvantages: It can be costly since skilled personnel are needed to conduct the interviews and analyze the results of the interview. Since only a sample of the population is usually interviewed, the information collected may not be a fair representation of the views of the whole community. It usually requires a lot of resources for example paper 3. Open days Kiesler and Sproull, (1992) defines an open day as a day set aside by an organization or a learning institution for people to visit and learn what goes on inside the institution or organization. Through open days communities can have a say on the various activities that happen inside these institutions that affect them in one way or the other (Sadler et. al, 2010). For example when a University has an open day and community members discover that there is racial discrimination in that institution, they can be able to address that issue immediately before it gets out of hand. This timely solutions can help close gaps in the community hence reducing the number of hard to reach groups. Advantages: Provides first hand learning opportunities People who participate usually find them fun as they are interactive and educative Disadvantages: A lot of resources are needed to make open days successful It can be expensive and time consuming to plan and execute 4. Polls A poll is as a study in which people are asked for their opinion about a person or an issue (Gigone & Hastie, 1993). Polls usually involve short and precise questions with closed ended answers such as yes or no. Advantages: Data analysis from polls is easy since the answers are usually precise It is a cheap way of getting many people’s opinions on a number of issues There may be no need to sample the population Disadvantages: It is difficult to obtain detailed information since the answers given are usually short It is usually one-sided and does not help develop relationships between the parties involved 5. Road Shows Road shows are carried out by companies, partnerships or organization when they need to raise awareness about the existence of a product, its uses, side effects and to get people’s opinions on the effect the product has on their day-to-day lives. Road shows can be an important method of community consultation (Larson et. al, 1998). This is because people get to express their views and opinions on various items. The government can also carry out road shows so as to be able to pass information to the hard to reach groups for example a road show that has been organized with an aim of educating the homeless people on where they can get food and how they can participate in decision making in the country in their various capacity (Malone et. al, 1987). Advantages: It has a wide coverage since it usually includes mobile means like vehicles to pass the information Disadvantages: It may be costly and time-consuming to plan and execute the road shows since they require a lot of resources and very careful planning Prior advertisements has to be done before the road shows so as to ensure that the intended group of people are the ones that receive the information 6. Surveys Surveys usually involve asking people a series of questions in order to gather information about what people do or think about something. Questions should be standard for all the participants, clear, impartial, easily understood and unambiguous. Advantages: It has a wide coverage since the questions can easily be distributed to many people Disadvantages: May be an expensive method of community consultation since analyzing the data obtained from the survey may require a lot of time and money to acquire skilled personnel Community partnership is a group of people or organizations who agree to come together and work on a common goal or issue that affect a community. Community partnerships are mostly formed to support advocacy programs and enhance the spread of knowledge and human rights in the community (Kiesler and Sproull, 1992). The best example is the Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community (LGBT), this community was formed to ensure that the rights of its members are upheld and that they are not discriminated against. The reasons (benefits) why community based partnerships are formed are: Build community capacity through training and education programs Helps reduce discrimination against people in that specific community by the other members of the public Helps build healthy and strong relationships between members of the community Work Cited: Acquisti, A. and Gross, R., 2006, June. Imagined communities: Awareness, information sharing, and privacy on the Facebook. In Privacy enhancing technologies (pp. 36-58). Springer Berlin Heidelberg. Dawes, S.S., 1996. Interagency information sharing: Expected benefits, manageable risks. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 15(3), pp.377-394. Denning, D.E.R., 1999. Information warfare and security (Vol. 4). Reading: Addison-Wesley. Franz, T.M. and Larson, J.R., 2002. The impact of experts on information sharing during group discussion. Small Group Research, 33(4), pp.383-411. Gigone, D. and Hastie, R., 1993. The common knowledge effect: Information sharing and group judgment. Journal of Personality and social Psychology, 65(5), p.959. Haidet, P. and Paterniti, D.A., 2003. Building a history rather than taking one: A perspective on information sharing during the medical interview. Archives of Internal Medicine, 163(10), pp.1134-1140. Kiesler, S. and Sproull, L., 1992. Group decision making and communication technology. Organizational behavior and human decision processes, 52(1), pp.96-123. Larson, J.R., Foster-Fishman, P.G. and Franz, T.M., 1998. Leadership style and the discussion of shared and unshared information in decision-making groups. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 24(5), pp.482-495. Lee, H.L. and Whang, S., 2000. Information sharing in a supply chain. International Journal of Manufacturing Technology and Management, 1(1), pp.79-93. Lee, H.L., So, K.C. and Tang, C.S., 2000. The value of information sharing in a two-level supply chain. Management science, 46(5), pp.626-643. Malone, T.W., Grant, K.R., Turbak, F.A., Brobst, S.A. and Cohen, M.D., 1987. Intelligent information-sharing systems. Communications of the ACM, 30(5), pp.390-402. Mesmer-Magnus, J.R. and DeChurch, L.A., 2009. Information sharing and team performance: a meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94(2), p.535. Millon, M.H. and Thakor, A.V., 1985. Moral hazard and information sharing: A model of financial information gathering agencies. The Journal of Finance, 40(5), pp.1403-1422. Pilerot, O. and Limberg, L., 2011. Information sharing as a means to reach collective understanding: A study of design scholars' information practices. Journal of Documentation, 67(2), pp.312-333. Ragatz, G.L., Handfield, R.B. and Petersen, K.J., 2002. Benefits associated with supplier integration into new product development under conditions of technology uncertainty. Journal of Business Research, 55(5), pp.389-400. Sadler, G.R., Lee, H.C., Lim, R.S.H. and Fullerton, J., 2010. Recruitment of hard‐to‐reach population subgroups via adaptations of the snowball sampling strategy. Nursing & health sciences, 12(3), pp.369-374. Simons, G.W., American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc., 2008. Method for online information sharing for completing electronic forms. U.S. Patent 7,334,184. Wilson, M. and Hash, J., 2003. Building an information technology security awareness and training program. NIST Special publication, 800, p.50. Wittenbaum, G.M., Hollingshead, A.B. and Botero, I.C., 2004. From cooperative to motivated information sharing in groups: Moving beyond the hidden profile paradigm. Communication Monographs, 71(3), pp.286-310. Online Sources: http://www.aapcho.org/wp/wpcontent/uploads/2012/02/GiachelloMakingCommunityPartnershisWorkToolkit.pdf http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2856561/ https://www.qld.gov.au/web/community-engagement/guides-factsheets/documents/engaging-queenslanders-methods-and-techniques.pdf Read More

Advantages: It usually has a wide coverage Might be less costly as compared to other means of information sharing methods Advertisements can be tailored to suit the needs of the hard to reach group. For example it can be made in many languages so as to be understood by all. Disadvantages May be an expensive way of sharing information especially when using television It is a one-sided method. This is because the recipient of the information have no say on its contents and the effect it might have on them. 2. Online information sharing According to Acquisti and Gross, (2006) websites such as Facebook are a revolutionary and important means for sharing information with the public and target communities.

The information provided can be directed to all the members of the hard to reach groups and can be translated to other languages to facilitate information provision (Simmons, 2008). Other electronic information sharing processes include online discussions, online surveys and interactive websites. Advantages: Many people can easily access the information distributed this way since many people have computers It is a cheap method of sharing information Changes to the information being distributed can be made quickly Disadvantages: Not all the members of the target group have reliable access to the information Continuous update to the information is necessary 3.

Briefings Briefing defines a meeting at which detailed information or instructions are given. The information conveyed this way is usually short and precise (Lee et.al, 2000). Briefing helps to keep the target group informed and up-to-date on the progress of community projects and other activities. Advantages: It is a good way to grow and foster a relationship with the members of the hard to reach groups It is usually an efficient way of making sure that issues are identified and solved timely.

Disadvantages: Sufficient notification has to be given to ensure that community members are aware of the briefing 4. Education and awareness programs Education is the process of facilitating learning, acquisition of knowledge and skills. Education may take place in formal or informal gathering. Raising awareness on the other hand is making people feel or be aware of events, circumstances or conditions surrounding them that might affect them in one way or the other. For example educating the community regarding the rights of people with disabilities.

Advantages: It can be used to impart skills and knowledge by providing factual information It supports community development Disadvantages: It does not foster two-way relationships since the people being educated might not have the liberty to ask questions or participate in the process The information being delivered might not be accepted by some groups of people for example giving facts from the Bible against same sex marriages might not be acceptable to all Can be expensive since there is need to hire skilled people to deliver the information There are many consultation techniques this is because it is important to use a wide variety in order to get a wider range of opinions: 1.

Discussion groups and workshops A discussion group is a group of individuals with similar interest who gather either formally or informally to bring up ideas, solve problems or give comments. The major approaches are in person, via conference call or website. A workshop is somehow similar to discussion groups but lays a lot of emphasis on exchange of ideas, the demonstration and application of skills and techniques. Members from a specific group can be sampled so as to pick the right participants.

Advantages: Can be used to target specific members of the hard to reach groups The community can apply their skills and techniques to come up with new and improved ways of doing things Can be used as a way to build relationships with the group Disadvantages: The sample may not be a fair representation of the community The information obtained from such may be widely disputed and hence difficult to analyze and come up with a conclusion It may be expensive since the services of skilled personnel may be required in analyzing and collecting the data 2.

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