Communities of Practice

“Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly.”[1]

Purpose:

The Commit to Connect Understanding the Impact of Social Isolation and Loneliness Programs Community of Practice (COP) is bringing together a cohort of three to four agencies or network organizations already delivering a program or intervention that addresses social isolation and/or loneliness who will all utilize the U-SIRS Scale as a “pre-test” and “post-test” to collect data and better understand their program or intervention’s impact on addressing social isolation and or loneliness. The COP runs from May to August 2023.

Members of the Community of Practice will:

• Receive an introduction to the Upstream Social Interaction Risk Screener (U-SIRS) Scale
• Receive a no-cost access to U-SIRS for one year or approximately June 2024 
• Learn from a leading researcher and additional guest experts on topics such as best practices for evaluation social isolation and loneliness programs
• Receive technical assistance and support with implementing U-SIRS Scale into workflow and programming
• Grow your professional network with others interested in this topic!

Goal:

This COP supports a long-term goal of Commit to Connect—increasing the availability of evidence-based programs and services addressing social isolation and loneliness.

Community of Practice Members:

• California Department of Aging (Sacramento, CA)
• Cincinnati Music & Wellness Coalition (Cincinnati, OH)
• Meals on Wheels of Southwest OH and Northern KY (Cincinnati, OH)

COP Member Information:

• COP members should attend and participate in all COP meetings. Participants may send a representative on their behalf. These meetings will be held via Zoom on:
  • May 18, 2023 1:00-2:00 pm ET
  • May 25, 2023 1:00-2:00 pm ET
  • June 1, 2023 1:00-2:30 pm ET
  • August 3, 2023 1:00-2:30 pm ET
• Visit the Nationwide Network of Champions. This platform will be used for engagement and online discussions between scheduled sessions.
• During the COP members will work on the following:
  • Developing strategy and goals for implementing the U-SIRS to better monitor and evaluate programs.
  • Integrating and implementing U-SIRS into the organization’s/network’s workflow by June 1, 2023, to monitor/evaluate at least one program addressing social isolation and/or loneliness during the COP.
  • Collecting data between June and August 2023 (although will be able to collect data up to one year [until about June 2024]).
  • Participating in dialogue and peer learning during sessions.
  • Providing feedback to the Commit to Connect Initiative throughout and at the completion of the COP.

Questions?

Contact us at info@committoconnect.org.

[1] https://wenger-trayner.com/introduction-to-communities-of-practice/

Previous Communities of Practice

Intergenerational Engagement Community of Practice: This group focused on intergenerational programming and social connectedness. Read more about Previous Communities of Practice.