| GRASSROOTS GLOSSARY |
| GRASSROOTS GLOSSARY (cont.) |
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MOU: A Memorandum of Understanding is an agreement between two or more collaborating
organizations that states the roles and responsibilities of each agency for the duration of the
project or over a specified length of time.
N
Nongovernmental Organization (NGO): Agencies and organizations that do not have direct
ties to any government.
O
Objectives: Specific, measurable operational statements describing the desired
accomplishments of a program. Health objectives often state who will experience what
change or benefit in health status by how much and by when. Process objectives often state
what or how much will be accomplished by when.
Sample Objectives:
To provide education and outreach to a minimum of 250 families in local congregations
about existing health care resources by year two.
To train 10 youth at XYZ High School to provide peer-to-peer training on rejecting violence,
gangs, drugs and other high-risk behaviors by year one.
To conduct 12 tenant committee meetings around issues of health and improved housing
conditions in local substandard housing complexes by year 3.
Organizational Change: This approach is meant to contribute to improved organizational
efficiency and effectiveness to allow the organization to be more responsive to the community
it serves and/or prepare the organization to change the systems that impact the health status
of that community.
Outcomes: Statements that describe what will happen to individuals, groups or populations
as the result of a program. Health outcomes are changes in the health status of individuals,
groups or populations that are attributable to a planned intervention or series of interventions.
Outcomes can also refer to changes in systems, organizations, or programs.
Sample Outcomes:
Increased utilization of local health care services by congregation members.
Reduced substance use, gang involvement and involvement in violence activities among
students at XYZ High School.
Reduced number of illnesses and injuries resulting from substandard
housingImplementation of a policy to ban the sale of soda and junk food by ABC Elementary
School.
Overhead Costs (also known as Indirect or Shared Costs): The expenses that are incurred
in the everyday business of operating an organization that are not directly linked to any one
specific program. Some of the items typically included in this category are rent, utilities, office
equipment rental or maintenance, development costs, insurance and audit or legal fees.
P
Planning: These grants support planning processes designed to develop a detailed plan
and strategy for implementation of a project or program that will address a locally defined
health need or health-related priority. Planning funds can also be used for capacity building
purposes.
Partnership: A working relationship with one or more funding organization(s), or intermediary
grantee(s). A partnership differs from an applicant/grantee relationship. Both types are built
on mutual respect, trust, and productivity and may last over a long period of time, but the
relationship with applicants or grantees is distinguished by the unequal power dynamics
(perceived or actual) that result from the foundation’s responsibilities to make funding
recommendations and oversee the progress of each grant.
Place-based: Refers to a strategy that is geographically focused.
Policy: A course of action adopted and pursued by a government, party, statesman or other
individual or organization; any course of action adopted as proper, advantageous or
expedient. The term is sometimes used less actively to describe any stated position on
matters at issue, i.e., an organization’s policy statement on national health insurance.Policy
refers to the set of rules that govern institutions, including governmental, health care and
other systems, or private sector business and corporations. Policy can be set by laws and
regulations, the courts, or by the institutions themselves.
Project: A coordinated effort over a defined period of time to achieve specific results.
R
Research: The process of defining, building, and testing specific, new ideas.
S
Social equity: “The fair, just and equitable management of all institutions serving the public
directly or by contract; the fair, just and equitable distribution of public services and
implementation of public policy; and the commitment to promote fairness, justice, and equity
in the formation of public policy.' (Source)
Strategic partnership: A partnership that is formed with the goal of advancing a common
interest.
Systems change: This approach focuses on making changes in laws, regulations, policies,
standards, or funding that will improve how health services and programs are provided or
utilized by underserved individuals and communities and/or will result in improvements in
health status.
T
Technical assistance: An organizational intervention by an expert designed to increase
skills, knowledge, or abilities. It can include fundraising assistance, budgeting and financial
planning, program planning, marketing and other aids to management.
U
Underserved: Underserved refers to populations or groups of people for whom geography,
cultural barriers, language, physical ability/disability, socio-economic status, or other factors
limit access to health systems and resources.
W
Wellness: A mode of physical, mental and social well-being where an individual recognizes
his/her full capabilities and potential through an awareness of nutrition, physical fitness,
stress reduction and self-responsibility. Wellness has often been a result of four key factors:
biology, lifestyle, environment and the health care system.
REFERENCES (PARTIAL LIST)
BEST, Monique and DUSTAN, Leanne. The Civic Participation of Visible Minority Canadians:
A Literature Review. Social Planning Council of Otawa. 2006
BOSMA, Juanita Handy; KEATING, Elizabeth; JARMON, Leslie Jarmon. New Forms of
Participation and Knowledge for Global Issues in Local Civic Forums. The University of Texas
at Austin - Science, Technology & Society Program. April, 2006.
CALIFORNIA ENDOWMENT. Source : http://www.calendow.org/reference/new_glossaryref.
htm. On August 14, 2007.
