Resilience, Community Assets and Asset Mapping

Nicolette Teufel-Shone, PhD Dine College Resilience, Community Assets and Asset Mapping

Strength or Asset Based Thinking • Focus and identify what is going well • Taking stock of what we already have in terms of resources, abilities, and commitment • Public Health tends to use deficit based statements • Example? • American Indians have the highest rate of diabetes in the US

Asset based statements • American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) adolescent females were 30% more likely to receive an HPV vaccine in 2011, as compared to non-Hispanic whites • The 32 tribally controlled colleges experienced a greater increase in AI/AN student enrollment than all other colleges (Trujillo and Alston 2005) • A tribe-specific social service program documented a decrease in intimate partner violence over the last 5 years

Asset based thinking • Does not ignore the challenges • Identifies successes • Documents processes and lessons to be learned from positive outcomes • Tests application of successful approaches to other challenges • Encourages us to thinking outside of the box

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Solution

Words can be powerful • Health promotion • Protective factors • Heart disease • Opportunities • Learning from mistakes • Disease prevention • Risk factors • Heart health • Problems • Failure Change the way you see and talk about everything

Measuring or Evaluating Resilience • Individual outcomes? • Academic achievement in a adverse/less than supportive environment • Individual process? Protective or contributing factors • Family/peer support • Cultural strength

Measuring or Evaluating Resilience • Community outcomes? • Rate of college graduation in a community with low incomes and low numbers of high school and college • Community process - Protective or contributing factors • Supportive community activities (recognition) • Cultural connection activities

Result • Asset/Strength based thinking • Builds on previous accomplishments • Using existing resources and skills • Recognizes resilience • Builds confidence • Deficit based thinking • Identifies barriers and limitations • Creates a mentality of hopelessness • Supports an environment of low morale and repressed motivation • Assets Success breeds confidence

How do you document and track community assets?

Asset Mapping • Provide information about strengths and resources of a community • Can help uncover untapped resources or connection between resources to build a solution • Relies on existing resources

So what as you Mapping? • Physical resources (physical capital) • School • Clinic • Chapter house • Boys and Girls Club • Businesses • Social capital (connections) • Booster club for school sports • School club – health professions • Cultural capital (knowledge and practice)

When do you use Asset Mapping? • Start a new local program • Need information on resources • Health promotion – safe exercise • Making program decisions, need evaluation information • Pre and post mapping – have the program improved resources • As a community/group activity has the program increased awareness of resources

Exercise • Draw a collective or individual map of local community • Purpose: To assess formal and natural (informal) resources • Color code • Categories • Non-native resources (clinics, counselors) • Safe/neutral places • Healing places • Positive physical resources • Native resources

Reflection on the process • Other applications? Other health areas • Settings? • Parents • Community leaders • Mixed groups or like groups, i.e. just teens or just health care professionals • Can reveal all resources using diverse experiences and perspectives

Resilience, Community Assets and Asset Mapping