Create, Implement, and Review
Campus and community leaders need resources to aid in their efforts to promote healthy decisions within their organizations and with their constituencies. GMU’s CAPH has, as its focus, working with campuses, schools, communities, states, and national initiatives on a wide range of issues. A central part of the philosophy of GMU’s CAPH is to share resources widely and freely wherever possible. The resources included in this website provide those developed by GMU’s CAPH over its quarter-century of service. These are organized with three broad audiences: College, High School and Community. The thematic thrusts found here are helpful for organization leaders as well as individuals as they aid and guide efforts for increased and enhanced health: Create, Implement and Review.
- Create is helpful for those conceptualizing or organization an effort to address a health or safety issue. It may involve brainstorming and assessment processes, and it may incorporate various constituencies or others to help plan and organize the effort. An important part of planning is understanding the issues and needs, whether that is based on a literature review or a summary of current strategies and insights. Creativity and innovation are often part of this process. It’s helpful to review what others have done to gain an understanding of what might be incorporated, as well as to adapt or evolve from those previous and current practices.
- Implement incorporates approaches and strategies that build upon the recommendations and insights of those who have addressed the issue before. It includes inspiration and hard work, organized strategies, and a range of materials. Build upon what others have done, and incorporate many of the lessons learned often found in the summary, findings, and recommendations sections of various reports and documents.
- Review is a matter of taking stock of the efforts that have been implemented, and seeing how well they accomplished what was sought and how well the processes went. The resources here are helpful in evaluating initiatives, as well as gathering documentation helpful for improvement. Whether quantitative approaches or qualitative approaches are used, the resources can be helpful in monitoring and enhancing the efforts and, ultimately, the results.
Certainly, overlap among these classifications occurs, and the resources developed by GMU’s CAPH will demonstrate the blending of these approaches. It is the genuine hope of GMU’s CAPH that these resources and insights are helpful in making a difference wherever they are applied.