Assessing the Impact of Chronic Disease Self-Management Education Programs on Social Connection
Commit to Connect invites applications from aging and disability network organizations for a community of practice (COP) focusing on measuring the social connection impact of Chronic Disease Self-Management Education (CDSME) programs through pre- and post-test measures.
Each COP member will have access to the collection instrument and protocols, technical assistance from the Commit to Connect Resource Center, expertise from an expert evaluator, and five peer-to-peer learning sessions.
The objectives of the COP are to:
- Work with COP members to collaboratively implement a flexible, yet standardized evaluation process for their CDSME program
- Build capacity of members by providing training and technical assistance to COP members
- Use findings to build the social connection evidence-base for CDSME programs
COPs support Commit to Connect’s long-term goal of increasing the availability of evidence-based programs and services addressing social isolation and loneliness. This effort builds upon the successful 2025 COP focused on evaluating CDSME’s impact on social connection outcomes using retrospective data collection. You can read more about the COP in the 2025 Summary Report.
Applications are due by Friday, February 27, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. ET.
Commit to Connect hosted a 30-minute virtual information session on this opportunity. View the recording from the information session here. Review the PowerPoint slides from the information session here.
Additional Information
Information on Implementation:
- COP participating organizations will collect pre- and post-test data from participants enrolled in CDSME program workshops using the Upstream Social Interaction Risk Scale (U-SIRS-13) and Retrospective Assessment of Connection Impact (RACI).
- The U-SIRS-13 will be collected before and after the CDSME workshop. The RACI will be collected only after the CDSME workshop. The U-SIRS-13 and RACI each take about two to three minutes to complete. When combined with the IRB script, participating sites can expect the data collection encounter to take approximately 10 minutes.
- Participating sites will collect the information through a Qualtrics link.
- All data and data reports would be shared back with participating community-based organizations. Technical assistance will be provided to help sites use their data to identify benefits and make value propositions.
Benefits
While there is no funding associated with participation in this community of practice, the benefits include:
- Access to the U-SIRS-13 and RACI to evaluate the impact of your CDSME program workshops on social connection
- Receive technical assistance and support with implementing the U-SIRS-13 and RACI into workflow and programming
- Receive technical assistance on how to understand and use the data to learn more about the impact of their program on social connectedness and engage in continuous quality improvement
- Receive secure data reports
- Grow your professional network with others interested in CDSME and addressing social isolation and/or loneliness
Participant Expectations
- Attend five meetings held between March and September 2026. These meetings will be held virtually on Zoom and last 60-90 minutes each.
- Dates and times for the meetings will be determined by polls conducted amongst the selected COP members.
- With TA and support with the Commit to Connect team, participating organizations will:
- Identify and report the exact number of workshop sessions that each clients attended (e.g., 2 or 6 sessions, 4 of 6 sessions, 6 of 6 sessions)?
- Document the CDSME workshop start date for each participant.
- Implement a matched pre-test and post-test for CDSME participants. The pre-test is approximately 20 items (including demographics) and the post-test is approximately 30 items. Sites are expected to collect pre-test data immediately before CDSME workshops (e.g., at Session 0 or before Session 1) and collect post-test data immediately following the workshop (i.e., after Session 6, with attempts to collect data from participants who missed Session 6). Complete brief “homework,” collaborate in between meetings, and actively participating in meeting discussions.
- Register as a Nationwide Network of Champions member by the application deadline.
Eligibility
Organization criteria: Businesses, LLCs, and for-profit organizations are not eligible for this opportunity. To be eligible to apply, your organization must be one of the following.
- City or township government
- County government
- U.S. territory
- Indian/Native American tribal government or tribally designated organization
- Nonprofit organization
- Private or public institution of higher education
- Special district government
- Regional organization
- State government
- Other (will be required to describe)
Application Information
The application must be completed by February 27th at 11:59 p.m. ET. The submission questions are also available here in PDF form.
If you have additional questions, contact info@committoconnect.org. Sign up for Commit to Connect emails to learn about future opportunities.
Previous Communities of Practice
- Assessing the Retrospective Impact of Chronic Disease Self-Management Education Programs on Social Connection: This group included six community care hubs (CCHs) serving older adults and people with disabilities and conducted retrospective analysis of their chronic disease self-management education (CDSME) programs.
- Understanding the Impact of Social Isolation and Loneliness Programs Community of Practice: The 2023 – 2024 Community of Practice utilized the U-SIRS-13 as a “pre-test” and “post-test” with three network organizations.
- Intergenerational Engagement Community of Practice: The 2022-2023 Community of Practice focused on intergenerational programming and social connectedness.
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