Listen, map, assign, and verify before rollout.
Use this page as a controlled working guide. Adapt language and activities to the population, verify local resources, assign ownership, and preserve the clinical and life-safety boundaries described throughout the model.
Community readiness: meet people where the system actually is
Communities move through recognizable stages—from little awareness to professionalized, sustainable ownership. Pushing a late-stage strategy into an early-stage setting creates resistance, fatigue, or theater. The intervention must match readiness.
| Stage | Name | What it looks like | Best next move |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Unaware | The issue is not recognized or is viewed as someone else’s problem. | Listen, share local stories and basic information, and avoid leading with blame. |
| 2 | Denial or Resistance | Some concern is visible, but the community minimizes it, normalizes it, or fears the implications. | Use respectful data, lived experience, and small conversations that lower defensiveness. |
| 3 | Vague Awareness | People agree something should happen, but no one owns a clear next step. | Name a convenor, define the problem, and complete a basic readiness inventory. |
| 4 | Preplanning | A small group is ready to act, but resources, roles, and priorities are not yet aligned. | Build the team, map assets, define target populations, and select measures. |
| 5 | Preparation | A plan, partners, training, and tools are being assembled. | Approve the logic model, action plan, safety process, referral pathway, and launch gate. |
| 6 | Initiation | Activities have begun, but fidelity and ownership are still fragile. | Use weekly huddles, attendance and referral tracking, facilitator coaching, and rapid correction. |
| 7 | Stabilization | The work is repeatable, staff know their roles, and early results are visible. | Standardize, document, train backups, and address gaps in reach and equity. |
| 8 | Expansion | The community is ready to scale, deepen, or add populations. | Scale only after evidence shows the current model is safe, used, and producing value. |
| 9 | Community Ownership | Residents, participants, and local institutions share authority, maintain the work, use data, renew leadership, and adapt the model without waiting for an outside champion. | Transfer decision rights, protect succession, maintain financing and data capacity, and require public accountability for equity and outcomes. |
Readiness domains
Recognition
Do people believe the issue is real, local, and relevant to their lives?
Knowledge
Do people understand the concern, the affected populations, the available supports, and the limits of current data?
Leadership
Are influential leaders willing to speak, convene, fund, protect, and remain accountable after launch?
Climate
Are stigma, fear, denial, blame, confidentiality concerns, or political tension likely to obstruct participation?
Resources
Are there people, spaces, time, money, transportation, technology, partnerships, and referral pathways?
Evidence
Does the community have credible local information, participant voice, and a way to evaluate progress?
Readiness rating
The nine-stage sequence is adapted from the Community Readiness Model, with stage 9 restored as Community Ownership. See Source S3.