Assessment Instruments for Measuring Community Engagement

 

What Instruments & questions can be used in different communities & contexts to assess engagement?

What Instruments are available?

Twenty-eight Instruments were identified to support assessing community engagement. In this context, Instruments are standard questions or question sets to assess community engagement in a consistent way. These Instruments can be used to measure various domains and indicators in the Conceptual Model. See below for more information on the methodology.

Each Instrument Summary includes:

  • An overview of the Instrument, which audiences used it, and what it assesses
  • How the Instrument and the questions align to the Assessing Community Engagement Conceptual Model
  • Highlights from articles and reports on the development and use of the Instrument, how community was engaged in the process, and key findings
  • Information on language translations, psychometric properties, and more

 

How can I navigate and explore the Instruments and Summaries?

Each Instrument may align with different community engagement goals and objectives. To learn more about the Instruments, the questions they use, and the alignment to the Conceptual Model, review the Assessment Instrument Summaries. To learn more about the content in the Summaries, review this Navigation Guide.

Click on each button to show a dropdown of how to explore the Instruments and Summaries by:

Conceptual Model domain alignment

STRENGTHENED PARTNERSHIPS + ALLIANCES
Coalition Self-Assessment Survey
Common Partnership Indicators
Community Engagement in Research Index
Community Engagement Measure
Community Impacts of Research Oriented Partnerships
Community Ownership and Preparedness Index
Community Ownership Scale
Community-Based Participatory Practice Competencies Survey
Early Partnership Indicators
Engage for Equity Community Engagement Survey
Engage for Equity Key Informant Survey
Five Factor Scale for Nonleaders
Guidelines for Participatory Research in Health
Health Democracy Index
Internal Coalition Effectiveness Instrument
Kapazitätsentwicklung Im Quartier (Capacity Building In Small Areas/Neighbourhoods Instrument)
Mature Partnership Indicators
Organization Questionnaire for the Public and Patient Engagement Evaluation Tool
Participant Questionnaire for the Public and Patient Engagement Evaluation Tool
Participatory Evaluation Measurement Instrument
Partnership Self-Assessment Tool
Project Questionnaire for the Public and Patient Engagement Evaluation Tool
Research Engagement Survey Tool
Scoresheet for Tangible Effects of Patient Participation
Six Factor Scale for Leaders
Three-Model Approach
Youth-Adult Partnership Assessment Tool

EXPANDED KNOWLEDGE
Coalition Self-Assessment Survey
Common Partnership Indicators
Community Engagement Measure
Community Impacts of Research Oriented Partnerships
Early Partnership Indicators
Engage for Equity Community Engagement Survey
Engage for Equity Key Informant Survey
Guidelines for Participatory Research in Health
Internal Coalition Effectiveness Instrument
Kapazitätsentwicklung Im Quartier (Capacity Building In Small Areas/Neighbourhoods Instrument)
Mature Partnership Indicators
Participant Questionnaire for the Public and Patient Engagement Evaluation Tool
Partnership Self-Assessment Tool
Project Questionnaire for the Public and Patient Engagement Evaluation Tool
Research Engagement Survey Tool

IMPROVED HEALTH + HEALTH CARE PROGRAMS + POLICIES
Coalition Self-Assessment Survey
Common Partnership Indicators
Community Engagement in Research Index
Community Impacts of Research Oriented Partnerships
Community Ownership and Preparedness Index
Community Ownership Scale
Community-Based Participatory Practice Competencies Survey
Early Partnership Indicators
Engage for Equity Community Engagement Survey
Engage for Equity Key Informant Survey
Health Democracy Index
Kapazitätsentwicklung Im Quartier (Capacity Building In Small Areas/Neighbourhoods Instrument)
Partnership Self-Assessment Tool
Project Questionnaire for the Public and Patient Engagement Evaluation Tool
Research Engagement Survey Tool

THRIVING COMMUNITIES
Community Agency Capacity Questionnaire
Community Impacts of Research Oriented Partnerships
Community Ownership and Preparedness Index
Engage for Equity Community Engagement Survey
Guidelines for Participatory Research in Health
Kapazitätsentwicklung Im Quartier (Capacity Building In Small Areas/Neighbourhoods Instrument)
Partnership Self-Assessment Tool
Six Factor Scale for Leaders

Place of initial Instrument use

*note: Instruments may have been used in multiple settings

ACADEMIC/RESEARCH INSTITUTION/UNIVERSITY
Common Partnership Indicators
Community Agency Capacity Questionnaire
Community Engagement in Research Index
Community Engagement Measure
Community Impacts of Research Oriented Partnerships
Early Partnership Indicators
Engage for Equity Community Engagement Survey
Engage for Equity Key Informant Survey
Guidelines for Participatory Research in Health
Mature Partnership Indicators
Participatory Evaluation Measurement Instrument
Partnership Self-Assessment Tool
Three-Model Approach

COMMUNITY/COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATION
Coalition Self-Assessment Survey
Community Agency Capacity Questionnaire
Community Engagement in Research Index
Community Engagement Measure
Community Impacts of Research Oriented Partnerships
Community Ownership and Preparedness Index
Community Ownership Scale
Engage for Equity Community Engagement Survey
Engage for Equity Key Informant Survey
Five Factor Scale for Nonleaders
Guidelines for Participatory Research in Health
Health Democracy Index
Internal Coalition Effectiveness Instrument
Kapazitätsentwicklung im Quartier (Capacity Building in Small Areas/Neighbourhoods Instrument)
Organization Questionnaire for the Public and Patient Engagement Evaluation Tool
Participant Questionnaire for the Public and Patient Engagement Evaluation Tool
Partnership Self-Assessment Tool
Project Questionnaire for the Public and Patient Engagement Evaluation Tool
Research Engagement Survey Tool
Scoresheet for Tangible Effects of Patient Participation
Six Factor Scale for Leaders
Three-Model Approach
Youth-Adult Partnership Assessment Tool

FUNDER, PHILANTHROPY, AND OTHER INVESTORS
Guidelines for Participatory Research in Health

GOVERNMENT
Coalition Self-Assessment Survey
Common Partnership Indicators
Early Partnership Indicators
Engage for Equity Community Engagement Survey
Engage for Equity Key Informant Survey
Mature Partnership Indicators

HOSPITAL, CLINIC, OR HEALTH SYSTEM
Engage for Equity Community Engagement Survey
Engage for Equity Key Informant Survey
Organization Questionnaire for the Public and Patient Engagement Evaluation Tool
Participant Questionnaire for the Public and Patient Engagement Evaluation Tool
Project Questionnaire for the Public and Patient Engagement Evaluation Tool
Scoresheet for Tangible Effects of Patient Participation

LOCAL HEALTH DEPARTMENTS
Community-based Participatory Practice Competencies Survey

NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS
Community Agency Capacity Questionnaire

NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS
Community Ownership and Preparedness Index

EXAMPLES OF HOW TO NAVIGATE THE INSTRUMENTS

A multistakeholder group is interested in understanding and improving the relationships among their community, policy, and academic partners. To find Assessment Instruments that could support their goals, they explore Instruments under the Strengthened Partnerships + Alliances domain in the Conceptual Model. They find several Instruments that they want to review more closely, and they plan to review the Assessment Instrument Summaries to determine which indicators are most important to assess.

A community group is interested in understanding the outcomes of their engagement with local community members. They are interested in seeing the Instruments that can help assess a range of outcomes in the Assessing Community Engagement Conceptual Model. They explore the Instruments that have the most coverage of the Conceptual Model. The decide to select one Instrument that aligns best with their community context and the range of engagement outcomes that they want to assess.

How were the Instruments identified?

Using a literature search and prioritization process, 28 Instruments were identified. All Instruments were developed, implemented, and/or evaluated with communities and were psychometrically tested.

To identify the 28 Instruments, project staff:

  • Reviewed over 1400 abstracts from published for articles/reports produced through February 2020
  • Read 369 full text articles/reports
  • Identified 82 articles/reports with 112 Instruments that assessed community engagement

With guidance from the Organizing Committee, the 82 articles/reports were prioritized. The prioritization process yielded 37 articles/reports and a total of 28 Instruments. These 28 Instruments are now summarized for use by various audiences to support assessing engagement. More information about the literature search and prioritization process will be available later this year.

Acknowledgments

The Organizing Committee would like to thank Fasika Gebru, Peak Sen Chua, and Dionna Attinson for their support reviewing and abstracting information during the literature search process.

External tools on developing a plan for assessing engagement

Click here to download a list of external tools for developing a plan for assessing engagement as a PDF.

*Please note this is not a comprehensive list of all available tools.

Explore project resources to support engagement & dissemination

We want to hear from you!

Assessing community engagement involves the participation of many stakeholders. Click here to share feedback on these resources, insights on using the resources, or email leadershipconsortium@nas.edu and include “measure engagement” in the subject line to learn more about the NAM’s Assessing Community Engagement project.


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