Community Organizations

Community Organizations:

The most important partner in the implementation of CHAP is the community.  It is the base for the resources required to conduct CHAP sessions and the audience for raising the awareness of cardiovascular health and CHAP.  CHAP has the ability to empower community members to prevent heart disease and stroke.  Community resources are redirected to run CHAP sessions and build capacity in the community to promote cardiovascular health.  The character of each community determines the specifics of the CHAP sessions. Within the community, certain organizations, businesses, residents and local media will be identified as those which would benefit from a heightened awareness of CHAP and who may choose to play a lead role in participating in CHAP.

Each CHAP initiative needs a local lead organization to spearhead the program.  It could be a non profit community  group,  a health-oriented agency, a public health unit, or a local group whose interest in cardiovascular health promotion coincides well with the CHAP mandate. Each community may have a different lead organization.  The local lead organization supports CHAP’s mandate of raising the awareness of the benefits of cardiovascular health and agrees to implement CHAP within the community.

Roles of the local lead organization include:

• Mobilize the community to actively participate in CHAP.
• Undertake an environmental scan of the community to determine potential partner organizations, key contacts, opinion leaders, existing programs and resources, local branches of health-oriented foundations, media channels, etc.
• Develop and implement a communications plan tailored to the community’s needs.
• Manage program files, databases, and information required for the ongoing evaluation of CHAP in the community.
• Assist in the preparation of CHAP reports as required.