Community coalitions using the Internal Coalition Effectiveness (ICE) Instrument

Cramer, M.E., Atwood, J.R., & Stoner, J.A. (2006). Measuring community coalition effectiveness using the ICE instrument. Public Health Nursing, 23(1), 74–87.

Description

The Internal Coalition Effectiveness (ICE) instrument provides a way for users to evaluate the internal effectiveness of a coalition. It measures critical constructs of coalition effectiveness by providing coalition members and leaders with an understanding of various aspects of their internal effectiveness as seen from two perspectives: member and leader. The ICE instrument provides a quick and convenient mechanism for documenting the internal processes necessary for sustaining a community coalition. Members and leaders of a coalition can use it to determine what roles and activities are useful for successful coalitions. Evaluators can use ICE’s findings for feedback that informs the coalition on areas of internal strengths and limitations.

Steps for Using Method/Tool

ICE is based on the conceptual model of the Internal Coalition Outcome Hierarchy (ICOH). It was designed to measure outcomes at each of the seven levels that the ICOH model identified as organizational strengths and levels for improvement:

Social Vision
Efficient Practices
Knowledge and Training
Relationships
Participation
Activities
Resources

To use ICE, both members and leaders of a coalition need to consider 30 items: 13 related to member contributions and 17 related to leader contributions. These 30 items are scored using a five-point Likert scale.

The ICE tool is copyrighted with signed permission and a cost of $40 for administrative processing, access to instrument and scoring form.

A sample of the ICE tool can be found here: http://train.cites.fsu.edu/Publications/files/UNMCEval-MeasuringEffectivenessofCo-623.pdf

The tool has been customized to the user, which in the above example is the Metro Omaha Tobacco Action Coalition.

These summaries are written by the NCCMT to condense and to provide an overview of the resources listed in the Registry of Methods and Tools and to give suggestions for their use in a public health context. For more information on individual methods and tools included in the review, please consult the authors/developers of the original resources.

We have provided the resources and links as a convenience and for informational purposes only; they do not constitute an endorsement or an approval by McMaster University of any of the products, services or opinions of the external organizations, nor have the external organizations endorsed their resources and links as provided by McMaster University. McMaster University bears no responsibility for the accuracy, legality or content of the external sites.