It’s a change from previous guidelines that encourage annual screening beginning at age 50—and a particularly notable one especially as nearly 1 in 10 cases of breast cancer now occur in women under 45. However, while many in the field applaud the shift, they’ve also raised concerns that biannual mammograms could leave cancers undetected—and untreated—for too long.
“The survival benefits are the best when mammography is done yearly, starting at age 40,” says Priti Shah, director of Breast Imaging at VCU Health in Richmond, Virginia.
What Is a Playbook?
Playbooks are tools designed to help Club professionals create an Outcome-Driven Club Experience for youth in any physical space, time of the day, or Core Program Area of a Boys & Girls Club or Youth Center. A twist on a sport coach’s Playbook, this tool provides some key plays, or specific promising practices, you need to help create great experiences for youth at your Club or Youth Center.
See the Program Basics Suite for the three Programs Basics Playbooks (Gamesroom, Assemblies and Transitions) at Program Basics BLUEprint.
All Playbooks are divided into five sections: Fundamentals, Plan, Do, Assess and Resources:
Fundamentals are the key components, ideas and standards you need to know.
Plan contains reusable tools to help you, with promising practices conveniently baked in.
Do gives you a variety of ideas to help put each Fundamental into practice right away.
Assess has a quick and easy self-assessment tool aligned to the Fundamentals to help you continuously improve.
Resources contains links to all the good stuff we couldn’t manage to fit into this Playbook. They are worth checking out if you want to dive deep into any particular topic.
How Do You Use This [November 27] Playbook?
Some sections in this Playbook may only need to be read once for understanding. Still other sections contain tools recommended for weekly or daily use. Below are some quick tips to get you started.
Start with the Fundamentals to get a deeper understanding of what you need in order to be successful in [describe the space or concept].
Use the Plan section to [describe to what degree they are using this section].
Check out the Do section for ways you can bring the Fundamentals to life, with ready-to-use resources and activities.
Consult the Assess section at the end of each day to reflect on what went well and what could be improved for the next day.
Still want more? Explore the Resources section for links to additional tools and resources related to the Fundamentals in this Playbook.
The [insert name] Playbook was designed to be an entry into [state the concept or space], which means it provides the very basic ideas for what you need to know to be successful.
Fundamentals
Define
“The survival benefits are the best when mammography is done yearly, starting at age 40,” says Priti Shah, director of Breast Imaging at VCU Health in Richmond, Virginia.
Club or Program Director Self-Assessment
The assessment tool will help your staff reflect on how well the fundamental worked in your Club or Youth Center. As you observe your staff implementing the fundamentals, key questions the assessment can help you think about is:
What successes or challenges were there implementing the fundamental at your Club or Youth Center?
Did youth learn what they were supposed to learn? Did it help build the intended skills?
Did youth meaningfully participate and have fun?
Example
Fundamental
Rating
Observations
Next Steps
Manage Equipment & Space
1
3
5
Enough space was available for youth to be active
Enough equipment was provided to keep all youth engaged at least 50% of time
The assessment can help you identify what adjustments need to be made as well as any coaching or training that you may need to provide your staff in order to make improvements.
Rating Scale:
1: We need to try a new strategy.
3: With some tweaks it could work.
5: It was awesome!
Fundamental
Rating
Observations
Next Steps
[Name of Fundamental]
1
3
5
[Key Idea]
[Key Idea]
Once you have observed your staff your staff implementing the fundamentals, there are different methods that you can use to guide your Youth Development Professionals and help them make changes for improvement.
Reflection:Lead your team in a reflection process identifying what they learned, things they need to keep doing, things they need to tweak and make changes, or on things they need to discard. A reflection template and sample reflection questions can be found here: Tools To Lead Staff in Reflection
Pulse Checks:A way of collecting just-in-time data (via survey, poll or focus group) to gain insight into youth’s experiences. Use pulse checks to gain more insight on the impact of the fundamentals in your Club. A guide to conducting pulse checks can be found here: Guide to Conducting Pulse Checks
Training for Youth Development Professionals: Use this time to also identify any further training that your team may need. A calendar of trainings for Youth Development Professionals offered by BGCA can be found here: Calendar of Youth Development Trainings
Training for Club Directors/Program Directors: BGCA also offers training for Club Directors/Program Directors which can provide you with support in coaching and training your staff. A list of these trainings can be found here: Trainings for Club and Program Directors
Continuous Quality Improvement Toolkit: The continuous quality improvement (CQI) tool-kit also have tips, tools and templates to help you lead your team in assessing implementation practices and making plans for improvements. The CQI tool-kit can be found here: CQI Tool-Kit
Youth Development Professional Self-Assessment
Seeking to improve quality is part of striving to create the best possible Outcome-Driven Club Experience. The Program Basics BLUEprint describes Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) as a way of thinking and learning, and a cyclical, ongoing process with three phases: Assess, Plan and Improve. CQI is about fostering a culture of learning, with the belief that we can always do better.
The assessment tool will help you reflect on how well the fundamental worked in your Club or Youth Center. Some of the questions to keep in mind as you are completing the assessment are:
What successes or challenges did you have implementing the fundamental?
Did youth learn what they were supposed to learn?
Did youth have fun?
Your assessment can help you make adjustments based on what you learned and try new strategies in order to make improvements. Once you have made adjustments, you can use the assessment again to understand how effective your changes were. Continue to use the assessment to reflect and make changes as needed.
Example
Fundamental
Rating
Notes
Manage Equipment & Space
1
3
5
Enough space was available for youth to be active
Enough equipment was provided to keep all youth engaged at least 50% of time
Rating Scale:
1: We need to try a new strategy
3: With some tweaks it could work
5: It was awesome!
Fundamental
Rating
Notes
[Name of Fundamental]
1
3
5
[Key Idea]
[Key Idea]
Reviews
Gabriel Stan
Review added on: 27 November 2024
How easy was the playbook to implement? (5 = very easy)
Reviews
Gabriel Stan
Review added on: 27 November 2024