The Healthy Parkinson’s Communities™ initiative is wrapping up its pilot year, and we are reflecting on the many learnings, connections, and new relationships that we have already seen, less than 12 months into this work. Since launching in January, we have engaged with more than 30 communities across the US and Canada and in other countries around the world. We’ve heard from community leaders that they want to create change, and they know that connecting with one another is critical to making that happen.
In 2022, we’ll continue to expand this initiative, providing new tools and resources to support the individuals and groups taking on this important work of making the places where we live, work, and play healthier and more equitable for all people living with Parkinson’s. If you are interested in joining in this work, start by downloading our “Getting Started Guide.”
In the meantime, bookmark this post of our favorite resources from previous roundups. We are sure you’ll want to revisit these resources again and again (as we have this year.)
January: Healthy communities and cross-sector collaboration
Building Capacity for Community and System Change from Community Tool Box
This resource explores the impact and importance of collaboration to create change in a community. It focuses on a community’s potential and capacity to create change and how to collaborate to effect change with less burnout. It also highlights some barriers that may affect the work of community partnerships.
February: Building strong teams and powerful partnerships
Building Leadership from Community Tool Box
This robust toolkit outlines many thought-provoking topics for building effective leadership in community changemaking. It also shares additional resources that explain how to build the respective skills outlined in the toolkit.
Inspiring and Motivating Individuals from the University of Michigan through Coursera
This course explains how to create a shared vision for your team and effectively communicate it to your teammates. It also includes information on setting effective goals and expectations toward a shared vision. Note: Completing this course requires a paid subscription to the specialization “Leading People and Teams” through Coursera.
March: Listening to your community and identifying areas of growth
Community Readiness from Community Tool Box
We frequently recommend this resource to people as it is one of our favorites in general! It dives deep into how to understand and measure a community’s readiness to address a particular issue, as well as how to use that knowledge to stimulate community change. It also suggests questions to ask community members and explains how to score answers to determine your community’s readiness.
Identifying Systems Problems from the Centers for Disease Control
This resource outlines how to identify the root of systems problems in a community as opposed to addressing symptoms of systems problems. Resources offered here through Thinking in Systems (TiS) outline a variety of ways to begin solving systemic issues in your community.
April: Setting goals based on community need
Engaging the Community to Create Community from AARP
This resource highlights the work necessary to build more vibrant communities for people of all ages while addressing steps already shared in previous resources. Notably, this booklet shares stories and examples of how different community groups worked together to create change.
Developing an Action Plan by Community Tool Box
This section in Community Tool Box’s chapter titled “Developing a Strategic Plan” dives into how to make your vision concrete, including strategies to meet goals and objectives. It outlines the criteria needed for a good action plan, how and when to develop one, and how to write one.
May: Identifying and creating solutions for health disparities
Building a Movement, Transforming Institutions: A Guide for Public Health Professionals by Policy Link
This is a web-based-guide, which was developed to support both veteran and aspiring health equity leaders seeking to transform public health institutions — from local and state health departments to research centers — and embed health equity into their day-to-day practices to solve systemic challenges in their neighborhoods and regions. It includes comprehensive information organized into the following categories:
- Identifying lessons and overcoming barriers
- Defining health equity
- Building leadership for health equity
- Organizational capacity–building for health equity
- Leveraging institutional capital for health equity sustainability
- Coalition-building
- Research and evaluation
- Framing and communications
- Policy advocacy
While this information is intended for public health institutions, the resources and information shared are applicable to building more equitable systems in general.
June: Inspiration and ideas on the power of social change
Building Compassionate Communities from Charter for Compassion
This guide defines what a compassionate community is, dives into the steps necessary to create a compassionate community, and suggests additional activities for community collaboration.
July: Hosting effective meetings and managing a coalition
9 Tips For Hosting Awesomely Effective Meetings from Workflow Max
This article provides great suggestions about effectively organizing meetings, encouraging hands-on participation, and keeping up momentum. 
Do More of What You Love and Less of What You Don’t from Entrepreneurial Operating System
Managing a coalition requires thoughtful leadership that recognizes group strengths and dynamics. This resource includes instructions for leading an activity that can help you determine where energy is being allocated for tasks. It also explains how to create a plan for delegation, which is incredibly important in managing a highly effective team. Consider sharing this activity with other CAC members so you can ensure your whole team is operating effectively and efficiently and that each member is completing tasks they love.
August: How to measure ongoing progress in your community
Participatory Evaluation from Community Tool Box
This resource reviews how to involve stakeholders in all phases of the evaluation process. It includes comprehensive details on why participatory evaluation is important, when to use it, how to use it, when to get people involved, and how to involve stakeholders in the processes.
September: Rethinking how we think
Failure Is An Option from TED
Failure can be devastating, but it can also make us stronger and smarter. This week, TED speakers explore how failure clears the way for success, both in our everyday work and our innermost lives.
Reframing Anger from TED
Anger is universal and complex: it can be quiet, festering, justified, vengeful, and destructive. This hour, TED speakers explore the many sides of anger, why we need it, and who’s allowed to feel it.
October: Meaningful gatherings
Brené Brown with Priya Parker on The Art of Gathering from Brené Brown
In this podcast episode, Brené Brown and Priya Parker dig into what it means to come together, why connection requires intention, and the often invisible structures inside our most meaningful gatherings.
November: Creating and Embracing Community Connections
The Soulful City Wellbeing Framework by Recover
The Soulful City Wellbeing Framework recognizes that a city is more than concrete and steel, monuments and infrastructure. Instead, cities are people, communities, and relationships. Built on years of research, this framework details several relationship types that are necessary for a community to feel a deep sense of connection and balance. Additionally, it branches out to specific examples of how those connections are applicable today and where they may be found.
The Good Neighbor Project
This organization builds connections in their local community by leveraging individual strengths and abilities to help others who do not have the same resources. They help individuals and the greater community in seemingly simple, tangible ways like mowing lawns, building community gardens, cleaning community spaces, and more. Anyone in the community can offer their time, strength, equipment, or money to help support their neighbors who could use a little extra help.
Learn more and get involved
Learn more about how your community can get involved. Download the Healthy Parkinson’s Communities “Getting Started Guide” today.