A large-scale initiative to disseminate an evidence-based drug abuse prevention program in Italy: Lessons learned for practitioners and researchers.
Across developed countries, experimentation with alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs often begins in the early adolescent years. Several evidence-based programs have been developed to prevent adolescent substance use. Many of the most rigorously tested and empirically supported prevention programs were initially developed and tested in the United States. Increasingly, these interventions are being adopted for use in Europe and throughout the world. This paper reports on a large-scale comprehensive initiative designed to select, adapt, implement, and sustain an evidence-based drug abuse prevention program in Italy. As part of a large-scale regionally funded collaboration in the Lombardy region of Italy, we report on processes through which a team of stakeholders selected, translated and culturally adapted, planned, implemented and evaluated the Life Skills Training (LST) school-based drug abuse prevention program, an evidence-based intervention developed in the United States. We discuss several challenges and lessons learned and implications for prevention practitioners and researchers attempting to undertake similar international dissemination projects. We review several published conceptual models designed to promote the replication and widespread dissemination of effective programs, and discuss their strengths and limitations in the context of planning and implementing a complex, large-scale real-world dissemination effort.
Regional Observatory on Drug Addiction (OReD)-Éupolis Lombardia, via Taramelli 12, Milan 20124, Italy. Electronic address: vero.velasco@gmail.com.
Veronica
V
Velasco
Weill Medical College of Cornell University, Department of Healthcare Policy and Research, 402 East 67th Street, New York, NY 10065, United States. Electronic address: kgriffin@med.cornell.edu.
Kenneth W
KW
Griffin
Regional Observatory on Drug Addiction (OReD)-Éupolis Lombardia, via Taramelli 12, Milan 20124, Italy. Electronic address: mantichi@asl.milano.it.
Mariella
M
Antichi
ASL di Milano, Addiction Department, Prevention Division, Via Gola 24, Milan 20143, Italy. Electronic address: ccelata@asl.milano.it.
Corrado
C
Celata
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D057191:Capacity Building / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration; D002648:Child; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D055317:Evidence-Based Practice; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination / Q000379:methods*; D007373:Interinstitutional Relations; D007558:Italy; D019982:Organizational Case Studies; D016730:Program Development; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012572:School Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000517:prevention & control*
Adaptation; Capacity building; Dissemination; Drug abuse prevention; Evidence-based program; Implementation