The major purpose of the research is to increase understanding of the diffusion of effective health promotion programs from research and demonstration projects into general use in school classrooms. The research project will study the process and impact of a series of interventions designed to influence school districts to adopt, implement, and maintain tobacco-use prevention programs. The design will allow for an evaluation of a theory-based diffusion program and an analysis of the diffusion process to determine factors predictive of program adoption and implementation. The main study design will involve 151 school districts in three of the 20 educational regions of the State of Texas. Two of these regions will receive the diffusion program and one region will serve as a fully analyzed, nonintervention reference region. The remaining 17 educational regions of the state will serve as a reference for selected comparisons and diffusion analyses. The research design and project activities will address the following goals: 1) Increase the integration of a field-tested tobacco-use prevention program into school districts. 2) Decrease the percentage of 7th grade students who use or begin to use tobacco products. 3) Analyze the diffusion process to determine factors that influence adoption and implementation of the tobacco-use prevention program. The outcomes of the study will contribute significantly to a better understanding of factors that influence the diffusion of tobacco- use prevention programs. The application of established theoretical frameworks and planning models will add to the understanding of how to develop diffusion programs that will result in increased use and continuance of effective school-based health promotion interventions. This knowledge could lead to improved school health promotion programs and to an increased impact on the reduction of risk factors for health-related problems.
| Brink, S G; Basen-Engquist, K M; O'Hara-Tompkins, N M et al. (1995) Diffusion of an effective tobacco prevention program. Part I: Evaluation of the dissemination phase. Health Educ Res 10:283-95 |
| Parcel, G S; O'Hara-Tompkins, N M; Harrist, R B et al. (1995) Diffusion of an effective tobacco prevention program. Part II: Evaluation of the adoption phase. Health Educ Res 10:297-307 |
| Basen-Engquist, K; O'Hara-Tompkins, N; Lovato, C Y et al. (1994) The effect of two types of teacher training on implementation of Smart Choices: a tobacco prevention curriculum. J Sch Health 64:334-9 |
