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From Model to Case: Implementation, Follow-Up, and Evaluation of a Permanent School Prevention Program

Abstract:

This article describes the prevention model Creciendo Juntos [Growing up Together], its theoretical framework, characteristics and methodological approach, and the population groups in which it has been implemented and results obtained. It then focuses on the implementation, beginning in 2013, of a school prevention program based upon this model that covered a whole school community. After 4 years, the process, results, and impact were evaluated, and the data are presented here. Process evaluation was developed through observations of the development of the program on the premises and in school groups. Interviews of school authorities, teachers, and facilitators were also conducted. The impact evaluation was conducted by means of a trend study, developed using two samples. In the 2014 baseline, randomly selected students participated as the experimental group. The data obtained in a Mexico City survey were considered part of the control group. In 2017, a second application was performed, which used the validated data from epidemiological research on students in the same geographical area as the control group. The process evaluation showed that the program guidelines had been incorporated as part of the school identity, and the guidelines provided were followed. The impact evaluation evidenced favorable modification of drug use: a decrease of more than 30% in tobacco use in the past year and problems associated with alcohol use in all age groups, and a decrease of 25% in marijuana use in the past year. The evaluation process developed supports the implementation of the Creciendo Juntos model and underlines the importance of its flexibility and the possibility for adaptation of guidelines and procedures to the specific situation of each community.