Strategic Prevention Framework Essay

The Strategic Prevention Framework or “SPF” is a guiding process one should follow when creating and delivering prevention programs and activities. This process is broken down into 5 steps and follows the principals of sustainability and cultural competence. This ensures the needs of the community are being identified and addressed, which results in effective prevention programs with favorable results. These 5 steps are: Assess Needs, Build Capacity, Plan, Implement, and Evaluation. Each step has an important component that supports the planning and delivering of these programs.

How did the Strategic Prevention Framework come about?
The Center for Substance Abuse and Prevention was involved with local substance abuse problems happening

in the early 1990’s. They provided funds so that these problems could be addressed. Coalitions were created, and while some were beneficial to the problem, others were simply ineffective, as some approaches were not appropriate for all communities. A new way of selecting strategies was attempted later in the 1990’s, which focused on evidence of a program’s effectiveness. Although this sounds like a good approach, this too, failed. Programs were selected more on their favorability than on the needs of specific communities. Since both of these efforts had some positive outcomes, CSAP decided that combining these methods could work. Choosing the best program for a specific community or population could meet those needs. The Strategic Prevention Frame work was then created which outlined these two specific attributes. This approach ensured communities in need would receive the best methods appropriate for them.

What does a community needs assessment looks like?
To identify which community or population can benefit from what type of program needs have to be assessed. Essentially, data needs to be collected and researched to identify what the problem is and why it’s a problem to begin with. Once that is determined, prevention programs can be designed that offer a solution to the problem. The problem the community is experiencing needs to be investigated so there is an understanding as to why the problem exists, what environmental factors are encouraging it, and what can be done to tackle it. These problems are looked at in two different ways; consequences and consumption. Consequences refer to the issues that occur as a result of substance use, and consumption is the amount of a substance, or pattern of one’s drug use. In order to understand the consequences and consumption pattern a community is experiencing, data must be reviewed. There are two types of data used when trying to understand consequences and consumption; quantitative and qualitative. Quantitative data is typically numerical reports such as, percentages, statistics, surveys and checklists. Qualitative data is more of a worded description, like stories, case studies, and testimonials. Once this information is determined, prevention priorities will be set based on the needs in the community and other unique factors. Risk and protective factors will also be considered. The only way a prevention program can benefit a community, is if underlying factors- or risk factors are identified.

How does a community build capacity?
In addition to assessing needs, it has to be determined if any resources are available to support a prevention program. Does the community have resources to support change? Furthermore, is the community ready to acknowledge the problem and work towards a solution? The more resources available to a community increase the readiness to change. If a solution appears somewhat achievable, more members of the community will be driven to support that. These members of the community will encourage others to support change resulting in more getting involved. The goal when building capacity within a community, is identifying where the disconnect is, so that these efforts can be supported. Creating awareness and readiness is crucial when trying to get stake holders or certain members of the community on board. They need an understanding of why they should support your cause and how their community will benefit from it. Cultural competence is also important at this stage as no two neighborhoods are one in the same. Understanding what your community needs, a way to solve the problem, and if the community is ready or not, will help get the bigger people involved. If there are gaps, or the people in the middle aren’t ready, awareness needs to be made first.

Planning and Implementation
After capacity is built, planning and implementing can begin.

Planning of a prevention program is important as it increases the chances of achieving the desired results. It ensures that all involved are on the same page and driven for the same outcome. When everyone involved is working towards the same goal and the outline is laid out, changes can be made if necessary. When planning a program it is important to identify the risk and protective factors within the community. This will help you come up with approaches or strategies that can assist in resolving issues. Creating a data-driven plan will ensure all avenues are explored, resource and readiness gaps are identified and the cultures within the community are acknowledged. Decisions and actions taken regarding the planning of the program must include all the ideas and thoughts of all involved in the project. Implementation is when your plan is put into action. Sometimes, when implementing a prevention program, adaptation needs to occur to adjust to budget, time and staffing restraints. It is important to remember the fidelity, or integrity of the initial program you sought to create. The more the original program is adhered to, it is more likely to be a successful venture. An action plan should be drawn up which will describe how you plan to implement the program. It will explain the desired outcome of the plan, ways in which you wish to achieve those results, and who is responsible for what task. This will help keep the project on track and remind everyone of their role in making the project

successful.

Evaluation
In order to ensure the program will deliver it must be evaluated. Evaluation will assist in clarifying exactly what the plan is designed to do, ways in which to improve the program if necessary, and monitoring the process. Evaluation is not to point out what’s wrong; it’s to encourage the improvement of the plan where it could falter to support its success. Process evaluation looks into how a program is being implemented. Do the strategies relate to the community and its risk factors? When making decisions and planning were all members involved? Was the data used when making these decisions credible? These are some things explored when evaluating the implementation. Outcome evaluation is different in that it assesses if the program is successful in producing the desired changes. How effective is the program for the target audience? Are there certain aspects of the program that provided more benefits than others? Were the objectives met? Looking into this information will help improve the program to attain the best results possible.

Cultural Competence
Cultural competence is such an important thing to remember when planning and implementing a prevention program. Most prevention programs are created for specific populations of people and consider their background and beliefs to ensure its success. If you were to plan a prevention program to bring awareness about drinking to college students and tried to apply this same program to individuals living in the inner city with drinking problems, this program would most likely fail. Every problem has its unique set of circumstances, and culture and background play big part in that. Identifying these problems and circumstance and addressing them and incorporating them in the prevention planning process will show that the needs of the community will be met.

Sustainability
The ultimate goal when referring to sustainability is not so much the program itself, but the results the program is trying to achieve. Prevention outcomes have to be sustained, and sustainability means retaining community support, continued stake holder involvement, and training needed to produce positive results. If the program is not achieving the desired outcome and community members are no longer willing to participate, the program should not be sustained as its prevention efforts have failed. It is important to continue building capacity within the community, identify available resources and maintain relationships with stakeholders to keep the positive results coming in. This is also where adaptation and fidelity should be remembered. Changes may need to be made to increase favorable results, but it’s important to consider the fidelity of the program.