Mixed Picture of Readiness for Adoption of Evidence‐Based Prevention Programs in Communities: Exploratory Surveys of State Program Delivery Systems

Abstract

An emerging literature highlights the potential for broader dissemination of evidence-based prevention programs in communities through existing state systems, such as the land grant university Extension outreach system and departments of public education and health (DOE– DPH). This exploratory study entailed surveying representatives of the national Extension system and DOE– DPH, to evaluate dissemination readiness factors, as part of a larger project on an evidence-based program delivery model called PROSPER. In addition to assessing systems’ readiness factors, differences among US regions and comparative levels of readiness between state systems were evaluated. The Extension web-based survey sample N was 958 and the DOE–DPH telephone survey N was 338, with response rates of 23 and 79 %, respectively. Extension survey results suggested only a moderate level of overall readiness nationally, with relatively higher perceived need for collaborative efforts and relatively lower perceived resource availability. There were significant regional differences on all factors, generally favoring the Northeast. Results from DOE–DPH surveys showed significantly higher levels for all readiness factors, compared with Extension systems. Overall, the findings present a mixed picture. Although there were clear challenges related to measuring readiness in complex systems, addressing currently limited dissemination resources, and devising strategies for optimizing readiness, all systems showed some readiness-related strengths.

Strengthening the Power of Evidence-Based Prevention in Cooperative Extension: A Capacity-Building Framework for Translation Science-Driven Behavioral Health

“…Relatively higher Extension readiness was reported in the Northeast and the South, with the North Central region showing more middling levels and the West with relatively lower readiness levels. Notably, the authors conclude that findings indicate all surveyed systems have some readiness-related strengths and that results indicate the potential of the surveyed systems for enhanced dissemination of EBIs, especially when the various readiness-related strengths are working in combination (Spoth et al, 2015).…”

“…Examining Extension's capacity for adopting Evidence-based prevention was among the reasons for a national survey of Extension readiness for implementing prevention-oriented behavioral health programming. Spoth et al (2015) assessed a broad set of readiness factors in a sample of Extension representatives from all but one state. More specifically, they conducted a survey of Extension professionals concerning readiness for implementation of evidence-based prevention programming, comparing results with parallel surveys of Departments of Education (DOE) and Departments of Public Health (DPH) employees in all 50 states.…”

“…There are a variety of barriers to implementing prevention-oriented behavioral health programming. This is especially true for implementation of evidence-based programs (Spoth et al 2015). The 2018 survey of the status of behavioral health programming in Extension (Extension Opioid Crisis Response Workgroup 2018) revealed that very few respondents strongly agreed that their state Extension system currently had the capacity to implement such programming.…”

Effectiveness of Parent–Child Mediation in Improving Family Functioning and Reducing Adolescent Problem Behavior: Results from a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

“…An ongoing challenge for the field of prevention is that even when communities are interested in implementing empirically supported programs, they are often hindered from doing so by lack of available resources (Flay et al, 2005; Spoth et al, 2015). As a result, programs for youth are typically not applied on a scale sufficient to achieve a clear public health impact (Spoth, Greenberg, & Turrisi, 2008).…”

Reflections on a Community Psychology Setting and the Future of the Field

“…We view this extension into understanding inter‐individual levels of influences, and their interaction with intra‐individual and contextual influences, on healthy development from a community psychology perspective. Translational research may also include examination of implementation in community settings (Damschroder et al., ; Martino et al., ), another focus of community psychology (Spoth et al., ; Wandersman, Chien & Katz, ).…”