Momentum
Index
In the context of evidence uptake and sustainability, another key characteristic of a social movement is momentum which refers to the people and energy needed to fuel change. In this section, you will learn about the role of momentum in social movement and strategies to build a critical mass and sustain energy.
What is this element?
Momentum is the force or impetus that creates energy and attracts individuals, groups, and organizations to a shared concern or desired change. A critical mass of change agents or “champions” use this energy to initiate and sustain change and achieve desired goals. The actions and wins must be visible to others to support momentum. When the force is enacted, it is unstoppable and continues even when there is an absence of external forces, such as financial incentives (Bibby et al., 2009; del Castillo et al., 2016; Dementia Action Alliance, 2009; Grinspun, 2021; Grinspun and Bajnok, 2018; Herechuk et al., 2010; Sustainable Improvement Team and the Horizons Team, 2018).
Why is this element important?
Momentum is essential to the evolution and progress of a social movement – it determines its success or failure.
It needs to be built strategically and intentionally as the social movement grows and evolves, and not as an afterthought to be sustained (Bibby et al., 2009). It also requires purposeful evolution – by design – to ensure the continuity of the social movement (Bajnok et al., 2018a; Grinspun, 2018a; Grinspun, 2021).
Momentum is critical to advancing change and can be fostered with the following strategies:
Framing and reframing
The shared concern or desired change must be positioned or framed as credible, urgent and personal to engage the hearts and minds of others and to build and strengthen support for action.
To maintain momentum and relevance, the shared concern or desired change must be reframed or repositioned as the social movement evolves.
Recognizing it as an ongoing process that energizes the social movement
Momentum attracts others to join the movement and take action.
It can result in widened engagement and support by others.
It generates (or regenerates) energy and people commit (or recommit) to the cause and take action.
Aligning it with social movement outcomes
Momentum powers a social movement to achieve change and new norms.
When momentum is declining or absent, the social movement no longer attracts the interest of others and the critical mass is not sustained.
Without momentum, the change initiative will plateau, run out of energy and fail to advance.
SOURCES: Arnold et al., 2018; Bibby et al., 2009; Burbidge, 2017; Grinspun, 2018a; Grinspun, 2021; Sustainable Improvement Team and the Horizons Team, 2018.
Case studies
Building momentum for change for BPSO OHT champions at Humber River Hospital
Humber River Hospital (HRH) (Home - Humber River Hospital (hrh.ca)) (now Humber River Health) is a designated Best Practice Spotlight Organization® (BPSO®) and is also a part of the North Western Toronto BPSO Ontario Health Team (BPSO OHT). During the pandemic, they faced challenges keeping their champions motivated and engaged in their change initiatives. To re-energize their champions, they integrated two key characteristics from the Social Movement Action (SMA) Framework:” Momentum” and “Public Visibility.”
The HRH change team built momentum for change and raised awareness about the BPSO OHT and its work by:
Offering monthly workshops to re-energize and re-engage their champions. Workshop topics included simulation learning and reviewing updated assessments on BPG implementation.- Producing and sharing a regular newsletter which included BPG implementation tips and updates.
- Giving a “BPSO champion t-shirt” to all champions after completing the workshop.
- Including a QR code in each newsletter and on each BPSO champion t-shirt, linking anyone who scanned the code to a video promoting the BPSO program (see image of t-shirts below.)
As a result of their individual and collective actions, HRH has been able to maintain its champion network. We’re pleased to report that 25 per cent of the nurses in their organization are now trained champions!
Turquoise and Yellow Illustrative Character Project Report Video (canva.com)
Shared with permission from Humber River Hospital as part of the North Western Toronto Best Practice Spotlight Organization® (BPSO®) Ontario Health Team (OHT)
Maintaining momentum to achieve excellence - Unity Health Toronto: St. Michael's Hospital
To keep the momentum as a Best Practice Spotlight Organization® (BPSO®) implementing, evaluating and sustaining RNAO best practice guidelines (BPGs), Unity Health Toronto: St. Michael’s Hospital, https://rnao.ca/bpg/bpso/st-michaels-hospital, an acute care facility in Toronto, Ontario, Canada engaged their Professional Practice team as change leaders. Strategies the Professional Practice team have used to maintain momentum include:
- profiling the activities, leadership and achievements of their champions and other change agents
- using newsletters, posters and pins to promote BPSO and increase its visibility
- participating in poster galleries and nursing rounds
- publishing multiple articles in scholarly and professional journals to highlight key accomplishments and deliverables
- creating and using an intranet site to update staff on BPSO activities (Ferris, Jeffs, Krock, & Skiffington, 2018).
Sustaining a health system change with momentum
The Health as a Social Movement project for the National Health Services (NHS) developed the Programme Theory of Change to create system-level changes in health care in the United Kingdom.
The project used this theoretical model to provide impetus for change by defining goals for the change. These goals included connecting individuals, groups and organizations acting as change agents with the health system to mobilize local action for health.
Momentum played a pivotal role in achieving system change and transformation. Indicators of momentum included:
- an increase in social connectedness of individuals, groups and/or organizations
- higher levels of control, resourcefulness and resilience in the community
- an increase in change agents’ confidence and influence over the health system
The sustained momentum arising from the individual and collective action aimed to support a preventable and sustainable health system, characterized as having:
- improvements in local services
- an integration of determinants of health into service provision
- higher levels of health and well-being (Arnold et al., 2018).
Considerations for getting started
To get started building momentum, including widening your influence and building a critical mass of engaged supporters, you and your change team can consider the following strategies:
- Focus on social connections among individuals, groups, and/or organizations. Where possible, seek face-to-face interactions to maintain social ties. Any existing networks can be used to support connectivity and widen the circle of engagement.
- Be inclusive and outward-facing to encourage and welcome new change agents in order to help build the necessary critical mass.
- Aim for small wins as they can build momentum. Communicate these wins using narratives or storytelling to gain attention and visibility. Emphasize that these wins reflect progress and success due to the efforts and energy of change agents.
- Respond to questions and concerns raised by new potential supporters and others to clarify the shared concern or desired change and the goals of the social movement. If goals have not been met, discuss barriers and identify additional resources that are needed. Make sure there is clear communication regarding roles and expectations.
- Use all opportunities to learn and spread knowledge uptake and best practices.
- Engage champions and other change agents to share optimism about the change. Believe in the change and in the possibility of doing things differently and applying social movement actions. Actively support champions as advocates for the change, and encourage them to communicate the sense of urgency for the desired change and the need for action.
- Use motivation to keep momentum moving forward. At each planning meeting, take time to highlight what has been accomplished to date and the remaining goals.
SOURCES: Arnold et al., 2018; Bibby et al., 2009; Dementia Action Alliance, 2009.
Strategies to widen your influence and build a critical mass
In the early phases of a social movement, it is common for only a small number of change agents to be involved. However, in order for a social movement to grow and reach a critical mass, others must be willing to help participate and further goals. To increase the number of supporters and widen the influence and uptake of the social movement, consider the following strategies:
- Be open to trying multiple and diverse types of individual and collective action to raise the profile of the social movement.
- Develop effective messages to attract and recruit more people. Use framing to target the specific interests and motivations of the stakeholders.
- Use resources and assets creatively to attract interest and widen your reach.
- Coordinate your activities with those within and beyond the social movement, leveraging the focus of the social movement with other goals, where applicable.
Implementation tools
For some strategies to widen support for your change with momentum, download our worksheet.
Navigating common problems
A loss of momentum can be a common problem, especially in busy settings with multiple concurring or competing priorities. When this occurs, strategies are needed to effectively respond and re-ignite the momentum. The table below lists some common causes of why momentum can wane and some suggested strategies for how you and your change team can respond.
Loss of resonance/priority areas no longer resonate with individuals’ hearts and minds
Use framing or reframing techniques to re-establish the credibility and value of the shared concern or desired change and the urgent need for change.
Lack of time
- Outline concrete steps that can be taken as part of collective action and are less time-intensive.
- Hold quick meetings to keep change agents and others updated and aware of the progress of the social movement.
Reduced number of supporters
- Use individual and collective action activities to increase the visibility of the social movement and engage new supporters.
- Consider whether there are risks to individuals engaging in the change initiative and whether these risks can be mitigated.
Loss of key leaders
Foster leadership from within the social movement’s core structure to grow new leaders through mentoring and support.
Lack of coordination
Engage the core leadership structure to strategically plan organized and coordinated activities.
Self-destructive group behavior
- Manage the political dynamics of the social movement, if needed.
- Emphasize the social connection and cohesion of the supporters as expressed through collective identity.
Stand-off between the social movement and the wider organization's current agenda or priorities
- Focus actions on working with organizations rather than against them.
- Build relationships with organizations by having a presence with established organizations.
- Avoid confrontation, where possible; instead, seek to be collaborative to establish and maintain working relationships.
“Old” ways of thinking resurface and reassert themselves
- Promote the new way of thinking (and doing) by continuing to frame the cause as important, legitimate, and credible.
- Be aware that changing ways of thinking (and doing) requires both shifting people’s mindset and maintaining the new mindset.
Inability to see the possibility of success of the social movement
- Understand that energy in a social movement can ebb and flow. In cases where it is dipping, engage champions as optimistic leaders for the change.
- Continue to organize meetings with change agents to maintain the social connectivity of the group.
- Emphasize commonly-held beliefs and aspirations to keep the supporters engaged and committed.
SOURCES: Bate et al., 2004a; Bibby et al., 2009; Kebede, et al., 2000.
Check your progress
- You have a written plan of individual and collective action activities to support long-term sustained change.
- You and others are engaged in the social movement and a critical mass is engaged in the change.
- You are maintaining regular face-to-face interactions with supporters to keep social connectivity.
- You are developing core leadership structures to support the social movement and momentum.
- You are seeing examples of visible individual and collective action.
- You have assessed your progress in terms of the goals of the social movement - what is going to be done? How? When? By whom? Why?
- New people are curious about the social movement and want to get involved.
- People support the movement; they understand what is being done and why.
- People care about the change. It aligns with their values, needs and aspirations.
- People feel hopeful about the change and believe that they can do something about the situation.
- People “show up,” becoming actively involved in making the change happen.
- Different people or groups get involved because the issue matters to them.
Check the level of commitment
This spectrum depicts commitment levels along a continuum from no commitment to full commitment. Progress happens when people move along the spectrum, become engaged in the change and take on leadership roles to make the change happen.
SOURCES: Bevan et al., 2011; Bibby et al., 2009; del Castillo et al., 2016; Sustainable Improvement Team and the Horizons Team, 2018.
Linking this element to other framework components
Linking this key characteristic to other elements of the Social Movement Action Framework:
Each of the elements of the Social Movement Action (SMA) Framework is dynamic and interrelated. For example, momentum is linked to individual and collective action taken by a critical mass of people that keep the social movement active and energized. Momentum is supported by a readiness to take action for a shared concern or desired change. Framing can be used to position an issue in ways to expand the number of individuals who support the cause.
Linking this key characteristic to the action cycle phases of the Knowledge-to-Action Framework:
You and your change team’s capacity in social movement actions may be enhanced or accelerated by adding in some of the action cycle phases of the Knowledge-to-Action (KTA) Framework, as the two frameworks are complementary. In addition to the linking example described earlier in this section, there can be many other points of connection between the two frameworks. Below are three examples for you to consider:
- Assess facilitators and barriers: Momentum can be either increased or slowed down by facilitators and barriers, respectively. Assessing the facilitators and barriers can prolong the momentum of the social movement. For instance, strategies that are used to support the momentum (e.g., framing issues to spotlight social movement’s achievements and progress) can be hindered if resources are not available to ensure that the message reaches stakeholders. What other facilitators and barriers can contribute to the momentum of your social movement?
- Evaluate outcomes: You and your change team should consistently evaluate the outcome of the momentum to assess whether it is progressing towards the change you desire to achieve. Is the momentum still working towards the intended outcome(s), or is it reaching beyond the scope of your intended outcome(s) and/or goals? Understanding how your outcome(s) is impacted by the momentum can help you stay on track.
- Sustain knowledge use: How is the momentum being sustained? You and your change team can incorporate this phase of the KTA action cycle to determine whether the momentum is continuing and to discern whether the momentum actually led to sustained practice change.
For more discussion about the dynamic links between the elements of the SMA Framework to one another and to the KTA Framework, see the section "Two complementary frameworks".
More resources
More Social Movement Action (SMA) Framework elements
The 16 elements of the Social Movement Action Framework are dynamic and inter-related. To learn more about two other elements, click the links below.
Collective identity
