Primary prevention community programme evaluation project
Background: The evaluation project concerning the primary prevention community programme implemented in the Prague 6 District by the unincorporated association Prev-Center, is designed as a five-year quasi-experimental study (without randomization) focused on the evaluation of the quality (as part of process evaluation) and efficiency of the programme (as part of outcome evaluation), as well as on the analysis of its cost demand (as part of cost analysis). Methods: The project involves collecting data on the baseline (pre-test) and the current situation of addictive substance use in the target population (post-test) by means of a questionnaire. In addition, the impact the programme has on the target population’s knowledge and attitudes throughout its implementation is observed. The pre-test values are compared to the values of the first (two years later) and the second (four years later) post-tests. Sample: The programme’s efficiency (impact) will be evaluated by comparing the development of risk indicators using a sample of primary school students from the Prague 6 District, where the control group comprises the schools not participating in the community project (implementing the so-called minimum preventive programme only) and the selected schools situated along the boundaries of the Prague 6 District which show features identical with the control group. Purposive selection was made as the existing conditions do not allow for randomization. Moreover, the randomization alternative is made complicated by the Prague 6 District being specific in terms of its lower crime rate and higher standard of living. Therefore, when the control group was being compiled, these circumstances had to be taken into consideration. A total of 25 schools from Prague 6 and the neighbouring districts of the Capital City of Prague, providing altogether 1,178 respondents, were participating in the project. Results: There is no significant difference between the experimental and control samples. A statistically significant difference between Sample A (experimental group) and B+C (control group) is only shown for life-long experience with tobacco, and only for men. Women show no differences in this characteristic. Life-long experience with tobacco was reported by a total of 81 boys from Sample A (25.0%) and a total of 88 boys from Sample B+C (29.8%). A total of 3.6% of the respondents had smoked a cigarette at least once in the past month (2.8% in Sample A; 4.5% in Sample B+C). A total of 66.6% of the respondents have experience with alcohol (71.7% of the boys, 60.7% of the girls). The largest number of the respondents have tried alcohol 1x-2x in their lives. A total of 2.5% of the respondents have experience with cannabis-based drugs. Experience with any illicit drug was indicated by a total of 31 respondents (2.6%), with volatile and cannabis-based substances being the most frequently-reported drugs. Other numbers of students indicating experience with any other illicit substances (ecstasy, LSD, heroin, pervitin) are very low. Nevertheless, a total of 9.3% of the respondents have experienced using unprescribed medicines. A total of 47.3% of the respondents referred to the availability of cigarettes and the possibility of obtaining them as easy. Easy access to beer was reported by 49.3% of the respondents. On the other hand, a total of 36.5% of the respondents indicated that it was impossible for them to obtain cannabis-based drugs.
Evaluation of pilot phase of school-based prevention program „Skills for Adolescence“
We report pilot evaluation results of the Czech version of the American drug prevention program „Skills for Adolescence. “ The results showed the effect of the tested program. The comparison of pre-test and post-test results confirmed the changes in a behavior, attitudes towards health risks and integration into a peer group. Pilot test findings are concordant to the aim of implemented prevention program. Pilot evaluation study suggests the meaningful basis for conducting a rigorous outcome evaluation in the next phase.
Abuse prevention and harm reduction internet projects quality evaluation methods
Background:Web presentations are becoming one of main information channels for sharing and publishing informations. It is important not only if information is published, but how it is realised too. Internet offers different abuse prevention and harm reduction information sources. Some pages are supported from public grants, others are „one man show“. Study objektive was to explore possible diferencies between selected websites with evaluation of qualitative criterions.Methods: For quality evaluation purpose have been selected 16 objective, relatively readily assessable parameters based on international evaluation standards Health on the Net Foundation (www.hon.ch) and Medical Matrix (www.medmatrix.org).Design: Five websites representing three countries, two different levels of personal and financial contribution and two different target population.Conclusions:Final websites ranking according to total score should first lead to improvement of imperfection, not to assessing the best and the worse. Considering remarkable score diference between websites with different levels of personal and financial contribution it is undisputed that more important investment into web development and performance is unselfishness and enthusiasm of their administrators.
Evaluation of Addictive Substance Use Primary Prevention Programmes in the Czech Republic: General Background and Application Possibilities
The evaluation of the quality and efficiency of the addictive substance use primary prevention programmes in the Czech Republic has gone through a complicated process of development. The emerging development of preventive programmes in the 1990s was disrupted several times by various factors, probably the most significant being the primary prevention policy of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports for the period 1998-2000, prepared in a low-quality and non-systematic way. Because of this policy, a distinction was no longer drawn between programmes of leisure-time activities for children and young people and specific prevention programmes. The situation did not improve until 2002-2004, when a joint intergovernmental primary prevention task force came into existence as a result of the Czech-Austrian “Phare Twinning Project: Drug Policy”. Currently, a draft of standards for primary prevention programmes has been completed and a manual of good practice is being prepared. The text outlines the basic approaches to primary prevention evaluation, presenting several different perspectives. Apart from the explanation of the principles of normative and formative approaches to evaluation of prevention programmes, it describes the methods for evaluating the preparation, process and outcome of preventive intervention. In addition, the basic possibilities of the most frequently-used research designs - experimental, quasi-experimental and non-experimental - are explained. The text concludes with special analyses pertaining to evaluations (cost analyses and cost-benefit analyses) and the issue of potential counterindications for the implementation of the evaluation of the addictive substance use primary prevention programmes.
Sixth-Grade Primary School Children’s Views and Attitudes Concerning Addictive Substances and Their Use: Focus Group Method
Background: The research study was carried out as part of a five-year quasi-experimental project intended to evaluate the structure, process, outcome and costs of a community-based primary prevention programme under way across the Prague 6 District. Using qualitative data, the substudy seeks to obtain data making it possible to understand the way the children of this age perceive addictive substances, to find what they think of their users and how they describe the consequences of such use, and/or whether they have any experience with such consequences through the people in their environment. These data are to serve as a better-quality information base for the interpretation of the statistical data gathered after the pre-test and two post-tests included in the main part of the project.Methods: The main data collection technique used was the focus group method. However, the degree of structuring of the subjective material was adapted to the target group’s age (higher degree of structuring); equally, the style of moderation, provided by a pair of researchers (always a man and a woman), was adjusted (more directive style of group management). Participant observation was employed as an additional data source for validity verification using the triangulation method. The techniques of identifying patterns, themes or “gestalts“ in research participants´ immediate utterances (literal transcription of audiorecorded conversations) and of putting together partial descriptive elements into general categories and interpreting them were used to analyse the data.Sample: Ninety-eight sixth-grade primary school children (i.e. aged 12 to 13), without a teacher being present, took part in a total of four focus groups. Two focus groups were conducted with children from the experimental research group (i.e. the children participating in the community-based prevention programme under evaluation), and two focus groups were conducted with children from the control research group (i.e. the children not participating in the community-based prevention programme under evaluation). Thus, in the former case, the population comprised all the classes included in the experimental group (30 classes), from which two classes were set apart using simple random sampling. In the latter case, the population comprised all the classes included in the control group (31 classes), from which, again, two classes were set apart using simple random sampling.Results: The children in the participating sixth grades of primary school have had relatively very wide experience of alcohol and tobacco and could also describe very accurately the different consequences of using these substances, giving examples from their community (broader family, people in the neighbourhood, etc.). Most frequently, they associated drunkenness with unpredictability of behaviour, represented by the experience that drunken people can be very nice, likeable and funny, as well as rude, unpleasant, vulgar, and even aggressive and dangerous. They see using alcohol and being drunk as the natural attributes of adulthood. The results concerning the school atmosphere show an interesting contradiction between the proclaimed “school atmosphere” (inquired into by school principals and other staff of the selected schools) and the description obtained directly from the research participants. The experiences with drugs other than alcohol and tobacco have been mostly mediated (older siblings, friends, etc.). The big city’s influence is apparent in that a good many participants have already seen somebody smoking marijuana and a large number of the children have also seen (mostly in parks or in the centre) somebody preparing or injecting a drug. Evidently, it is more common that drugs such as heroin and pervitin meet with a negative attitude. Cannabis users are condemned with less frequency. At first, the participants took a negative standpoint on alcohol and tobacco use. However, when asked, the participants answer that they are attracted by these drugs nevertheless. In two classes (one from the experimental and one from the control group) the school staff’s description was considerably different from the one given by the children (research participants). In these two classes the school staff made a point of repeatedly highlighting only the positive features of their school without implying any self-criticism or referring to setbacks. It was in these two classes that the children described with a significantly higher frequency their experiences of bullying, aggressiveness among the children in this school, little support from the teachers and poor communication with the teachers beyond the framework of curriculum activities.
Evaluation tools in primary prevention: a practical perspective
Evaluation of preventive program is integral and significant part of prevence. Important premises of whole evaluation proces is intensive regular and profesionaly leaded comunication between servis specific primary prevence giver and school establisment with expressive support of school headmasters and their advising systém. We tried to present some of evaluation instruments in separate phases of evaluations proces- in phase of adjustment, value course and result of preventation program. We went out from practice experiences of our work knowing that we are somewhere on the begining of formation, professional teoreticle and research base of this theme.
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