title: Communities of practice as a professional and organizational development strategy in local public health organizations in Quebec, Canada: an evaluation model.
abstract: Communities of practice (CoPs) are among the professional development strategies most widely used in such fields as management and education. Though the approach has elicited keen interest, knowledge pertaining to its conceptual underpinnings is still limited, thus hindering proper assessment of CoPs' effects and the processes generating the latter. To address this shortcoming, this paper presents a conceptual model that was developed to evaluate an initiative based on a CoP strategy: Health Promotion Laboratories are a professional development intervention that was implemented in local public health organizations in Montreal (Quebec, Canada). The model is based on latest theories on work-group effectiveness and organizational learning and can be usefully adopted by evaluators who are increasingly called upon to illuminate decision-making about CoPs. Ultimately, validation of this conceptual model will help advance knowledge and practice pertaining to CoPs as well as professional and organizational development strategies in public health.
authors.affiliation: Full Professor, Institut de recherche en santé publique de l'Université de Montréal (IRSPUM), Faculty of Nursing, Léa-Roback Research Centre on Social Inequalities of Health in Montreal, and Research Centre, Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal, Université de Montréal Montreal, QC.
authors.forename: Lucie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Richard
authors.affiliation: Associate Professor, Institut de recherche en santé publique de l'Université de Montréal (IRSPUM) and Department of Psychology, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC.
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Chiocchio
authors.affiliation: Research Associate, Department of Psychology, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC.
authors.forename: Hélène
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Essiembre
authors.affiliation: Graduate Student, Institut de recherche en santé publique de l'Université de Montréal (IRSPUM) and School of Public Health Université de Montréal, Montreal Public Health Department, Montreal Health and Social Services Agency, Montreal, QC.
authors.forename: Marie-Claude
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Tremblay
authors.affiliation: Research Associate, Montreal Public Health Department, Montreal Health and Social Services Agency, Montreal, QC.
authors.forename: Geneviève
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lamy
authors.affiliation: Full Professor, Institut de recherche en santé publique de l'Université de Montréal (IRSPUM) and School of Public Health, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC.
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Champagne
authors.affiliation: Planning, Programming and Research Officer, School of Public Health, Université de Montréal Montreal Public Health Department, Montreal Health and Social Services Agency, Montreal, QC.
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Beaudet
mesh_terms: D019058:Community Networks / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006293:Health Promotion; D017146:Models, Organizational; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011635:Public Health Administration; D015980:Public Health Practice; D011792:Quebec; D013192:Staff Development
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