Traditionally, prevention and treatment services have been delivered in separate settings (Compton et al., 2005). Substantial economies could be realized by delivering effective drug abuse prevention services to children and teens through drug and mental health treatment centers where their parents and other family members are clients. This exploratory (R21) study should answer preliminary questions about the feasibility of disseminating prevention programs through treatment and human services agencies, and generate valuable knowledge about barriers, enablers, and adaptations. This knowledge can be used in subsequent projects designed to test various strategies for improving the adoption of tested and effective prevention (TEP) efforts in existing health services agencies and to evaluate the level of support necessary to ensure high-quality implementation. This health services research R21 is submitted in response to PA 08-264. It is designed to fill an important gap in health services research on the process of agency adoption and implementation of tested and effective family-based prevention programs. This study is unique in that it braids a theoretical model of behavior development with a process for supporting high-quality program implementation of tested and effective drug abuse prevention programs by drug abuse and mental health treatment agencies We propose to disseminate an efficacious family-based self-study prevention program (Staying Connected with Your Teen) to inner city families through an existing health services agency. Staying Connected is a family-based self-study intervention to prevent substance use, risky sexual behavior related to HIV/AIDS, and violence during adolescence (Haggerty et al., 2007). We will examine the implementation of Staying Connected in seven branches of Therapeutic Health Services (THS), a well-established community health agency in Seattle, WA. The social development model (SDM) (Catalano &Hawkins, 1996;Hawkins &Weis, 1985) provides the theoretical framework for behavioral change within community agencies hypothesized to promote the adoption of tested and effective prevention programs. This 2-year exploratory study will 1) use Glasgow's RE-AlM process to describe and evaluate the success of the dissemination effort (Glasgow et al., 1999), 2) identify and evaluate barriers and enablers to successful dissemination, and 3) use a waitlist control study design to evaluate the impact of implementation supports on RE-AlM.
This study should answer preliminary questions about the feasibility of disseminating self-study drug abuse and HIV/AIDS risk reduction programs through treatment and human services agencies, and generate valuable knowledge about barriers, enablers and adaptations. This knowledge can be used in subsequent projects designed to test various strategies for improving the adoption of tested and effective prevention efforts in existing health services agencies and to evaluate the level of supports necessary to ensure quality implementation.
