Behavior Change Programs

We understand that behavior change starts at the roots, with an understanding of community values and an assessment of local needs and interests.  Stamberger Outreach staff work with community members and leaders to create programs that improve environmental health and provide desired public services. 

Our experience with Community Based Social Marketing (CBSM) techniques allows us to assess local barriers and benefits to environmentally friendly behaviors and work with communities to overcome them.

We use individualized technical assistance, menus of services providing options for everyone, pledges and other strategies to create change, collect behavior change data, and analyze the effectiveness of our programs.

Our use of CBSM techniques has changed behavior and provided useful services to residents through programs like:

• Residential rain garden grants
• Stream restoration partnerships with private property owners
• Demonstration gardens at schools
• Natural gardening technical assistance home visits
• Rain garden raffles and neighborhood installation days, to name a few.

The City of Gresham’s Healthy Streams Program gives a good example of our work with behavior change programs.

While working for the City of Gresham Watershed Division, Jamie Stamberger of Stamberger Outreach co-managed the Healthy Streams Program (HSP), including program development, implementation, reporting and procuring two grants to fund program implementation.

The program was supported by the City of Gresham and by grants from East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District and Metro Nature in Neighborhoods.

The HSP sought to reduce surface water pollution through a menu of services to residents, including free at-home natural gardening consultations, free downspout disconnection parts and labor, free trees, and $200 rain garden grants.  Surveys and statistical analysis were used to determine program effectiveness.

Click Here to read the Healthy Streams Program Detailed Report.

Highlights of Program Results:

• Hosted and/or facilitated 57 workshops and/or community events (1310 estimated total contacts), placed ads in local news publications, advertised through community partners, sent multiple direct mail invitations, and canvassed 1,000 homes to encourage participation in the HSP (562 HSP participants).
• During natural gardening visits, residents were offered free start up materials and asked to pledge to lawn and garden maintenance behaviors that will help improve water quality.
• 161 homes received technical assistance visits, and 1247 native plants, 97 compost bins, and 124 backyard habitat structures were provided as incentives to try new sustainable behaviors.  Participants also pledged to begin or continue 1029 watershed friendly behaviors on their property.
• A 2012 survey of visit recipients shows that 49% of participants reduced or eliminated their use since receiving their visit.
• 433 homes recieved downspout disconnection assessments, 63 homes had downspout disconnection work done
• 109 free trees were provided
• 56 rain garden grant pre-qualification visits were conducted
• 11 $200 residential rain garden grants were issued
• 44 residents attended rain garden workshops
• 11 residents participated in a Healthy Lawns Event demonstrating natural non-toxic lawn care
• Outreach methods employed in the HSP successfully garnered greater than 30% participation in two of three study neighborhoods.