Learning Objectives:

• To identify common interests for group action after completion of training
• To identify mechanisms to support group work and connection after completion of training
• To provide closure and share collective achievements of training experience

Materials: Mindfulness bell, flipcharts and markers, sticky notes, post-training surveys Worksheet 4.6.1 — Community Action Project Planning Worksheet

Time Required: 70 Minutes

Activities & Instructions

Setup:

Participants to sit in one big circle.

Instructions to Participants:

1. Sharing passion for community action: (10 minutes)

Facilitator says,

• “Now that we have come to the end of our CHAMPs-In-Action training, it is time for us to look at ways we can continue to build the connections and momentum from the training to make some positive changes in our lives and in our communities.
• I would invite you to take a moment and go back to the committed action plan you have made, and pick one community level action or activity that you feel most passionate about. Put the 2-3 key words that describe this activity on a sticky note. Then we will go around and share it in the large group.
• (Give participants 1 minute to reflect and write down their ideas.)

Facilitator #1 continues:

• “Now please go around and read out your idea. then please come out and put your ideas up on the board. I will try to group related ideas together as you share.“

2. Identifying and harnessing group synergy: (5 minutes)

• Facilitator #2 to assist in collecting the sticky notes after each person has shared and help facilitator #1 to group related ideas together. After everyone has shared, facilitators will try to group related ideas into 3-4 broad categories thematically. (E.g., community education, strengthening peer support, art and media strategy, etc.) Seek the groups’ endorsement of the ways ideas are organized before proceeding to next step.

Facilitator #1 continues:

• “Now that we have identified some synergy amongst the different ideas, I would encourage us to get into small groups and discuss some immediate follow-up action plan that we can work together to move these ideas forward. Let’s divide up the room and each work group will take one corner. Please join the group that includes your idea and spend the next 10 minutes together to discuss follow-up action.”

3. Identifying Action Plan and Mechanism to Sustain Connections: (10 minutes)

Facilitator #1 says,

• “In your small group, please spend some time clarifying your ideas and make sure everyone have similar understanding. Then figure out 1-2 immediate steps your group will take to enable you to move your plans forward. This should include figuring out how you want to stay in contact and communicate with each other to further the discussion and planning; what information you would like to find out or research before you meet to discuss this further; and when and where you may want to reconnect to follow this up.”
• “In summary, in your small group, for the next 10 minutes:
  • clarify the core ideas/vision of your action project
  • discuss how you want to keep in touch/communicate
  • what information you want to gather before next group discussion
  • when and where you will reconnect to follow-up”
• “When you come back, please pick one representative from your group to do a 1 minute highlight of your action project and your follow-up plan. Other members may get excited and want to join your group too.”
• (Participants gather into small groups and engage in discussion, then report back as per above instructions.)

4. Large Group Sharing Of Committed Community Action Plan (5 min)

Each small group will have 1 minute to present the highlight of their planned action.

5. Logistic Information on Additional Follow-Up Program Activitie

Facilitator #1 says,

• “Thank you for sharing all your exciting ideas and action plan. Based on our previous experiences, participants really treasured the connections built from the training and quite a few of the ideas generated did get done in real life so we are very excited and hopeful.”
• “In addition to the ways you have identified how you want to stay in touch, our program also has a few additional activities planned to keep you engaged and continue our community building processes:”
• “One activity is a 3 month reunion session where we will invite all the participants back to share some update activities and their experiences since the training.”
• “Another activity is that we will have a bigger community forum at the end of each year where all the CHAMPs- In-Action participants will be invited to come and share all the actions and strategies we have engaged in since the training. This will be a multi-cultural, multi-sector event co-sponsored by all our CHAMP Alliance member agencies.“
• “Last but not the least, we have a train-the-trainer program to train graduates from CHAMPs-In-Action who are interested in becoming a facilitator to help deliver the training to other community members. Overtime, we will develop a whole pool of community CHAMP facilitators and we will be meeting regularly to support each other in ongoing learning activities as a “community of practice”. If you are interested in exploring this further, talk to one of us after the training and we will be happy to provide you with more information.”

6. Post-Training Survey and Check-Out (20 min)

Facilitator #2 says,

• “Before we do our final check-out, we would appreciate it if you can complete the post-training survey (Appendix 3) as well as the final evaluation form to reflect on your thoughts about the training experience.
• “This information is very important for us to evaluate if the program is effective in achieving what it aimed to achieve. Your feedback is also very important for us to continue to refine and improve our program; so please kindly spend some time filling them out.
• “Please try to answer all the questions, especially those in the same scale, because if you skip some of the items in the scale then we cannot use the rest of the responses in that whole section. If you have any questions or need any assistance with filling them out, please signal and one of us will come and help you. “
• (Wait for participants to complete the survey and evaluation forms)

7. Final Check-Out Goodbye (20 min)

• Facilitator #2 writes on flipchart: Connect- presently, Share-openly; ACT- committedly; and says,
• “Now we have come to the final check-out for our training, we would invite you to each take turn and do a few things.
• The first check out activity is “Connect”, and we do this through a special way in the Acceptance Commitment Training to say goodbye. For the ACT goodbye, we would invite each of us to take turn to stand up and spend a second to look at and connect with each person in the group in the present moment, it is an opportunity for us to express our appreciation and gratitude to your fellow participants in silence. After you have gone through making connection with everyone in the group, you may sit down and then the next person will begin. I will demonstrate.
• (Facilitator stands up and demonstrates the ACT goodbye and then signal the next person to follow, after all participants have done the ACT goodbye, the facilitator continues:)
• “For the next activity in our check out we want you to go around to “Share” and to “ACT”: for the “sharing” part, we want you to share one reflection of the gifts or lessons learnt from the group that you appreciate and would like to express gratitude for; and then for the “Action” part, we want you to share one action you will commit to carry out based on the experiences from this training, whether it is for yourself or for your community.”
• (After all the participants have shared as per above, facilitators thank everyone for their participation.)

Source:

Fung, K. (2015). Acceptance and commitment therapy: Western adoption of Buddhist tenets? Transcultural Psychiatry, 52(4), 561-576. doi:10.1177/1363461514537544

Worksheet 4.6.1 – Community Action Project Planning Worksheet