A Community-Engaged Approach to Ego Mapping: Developing a Toolkit to Assess Social Capital in Coalitions Addressing the Opioid Crisis

Background and Purpose: Community coalitions are essential in addressing social challenges like the opioid crisis by uniting diverse stakeholders to implement coordinated response strategies. The success of these coalitions relies heavily on the social capital of their members—specifically, their access to power, resources, and influence within the community. However, many individuals outside formal coalitions lack these connections, potentially limiting the equity and reach of interventions. To address this issue, we developed a team-based ego mapping approach to assess and visualize perceived social capital and stakeholder influence within coalitions implementing the Communities That Heal (CTH) intervention across nine Ohio counties, as part of the NIH HEALing study. This approach provides a practical tool for identifying strengths and gaps in coalition networks, ultimately supporting more effective, efficient, and equitable social work practice.

Methods: To understand relationships and power dynamics among community organizations and coalition members, we adapted a “community genogram” approach using community-engaged data collection techniques. Three community-based researchers independently assessed local stakeholders, synthesizing their individual perspectives into a composite evaluation of each actor’s social capital. Stakeholders were categorized as power brokers (those with political/economic influence), decision makers (those with authority within the coalition), and coalition participants (those attending two or more CTH meetings). Using VennMaker software, ego maps were developed for each participating Ohio community, visualizing influence rankings, engagement in evidence-based practices, and coalition participation. Following the development of these maps, community-based researchers met with study staff to validate and refine the maps, ensuring accuracy in representing local coalition dynamics and social capital from a community-informed perspective.

Results: We assessed the perceived social capital of 163 stakeholders involved in the CTH intervention across nine Ohio counties. Most stakeholders were from mental health and recovery services, followed by healthcare organizations. Among the power brokers, 84% were also coalition participants, demonstrating alignment between influence and engagement. However, power brokers from the criminal justice sector, critical for implementing evidence-based practices showed the lowest levels of coalition participation. In contrast, sectors such as social services and individuals with lived experience, although less frequently identified as power brokers, exhibited 100% participation in coalition activities. These findings reveal sector-specific disparities between influence and engagement, highlighting the need for targeted coalition-building strategies. Based on these insights, we developed a community-informed ego mapping toolkit to support local identification of social capital, enhance coalition engagement, and enable replication of this approach in other social work practice settings.

Conclusion: Ego mapping provides a transformative methodology for visualizing and understanding complex stakeholder networks. By capturing perceptions of social capital within communities, this approach equips coalitions with a nuanced framework for enhancing effectiveness, efficiency, and equity. Implementing ego mapping early in the coalition formation process and revisiting it periodically yields valuable insights to inform recruitment and strategic planning. This methodology has been adapted into a community-based toolkit, offering a practical, replicable, and adaptable tool for coalitions to guide engagement and strengthen their interventions. This toolkit serves as a valuable resource for improving the impact and sustainability of community-driven social work practice.