Progress 09/01/16 to 12/31/19
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience for this program included middle school youth (ages 10-14) and their parents and caregivers, living in communities and school districts participating in PROSPER.The target audience for this program included middle school youth (ages 10-14) and their parents and caregivers, living in communities and school districts participating in PROSPER. Changes/Problems:During the course of this project, there were no major problems or changes to the project plan. Like other community-focused research and outreach projects, community partners and trainers were sometimes not as effective as originally hoped. The main outcome from these situations was a lack of progress--we made sure that these and related issues were identified and addressed early in the project so that they did not affect project scope, effectiveness, or outcomes. Those who were unable to perform duties for which they were hired were replaced as quickly as possible by others with skills as team leaders. Handling these personnel issues (which occurred rarely during the course of this project) ensured that the project continued as planned. Teams assembled in each of the new counties were strong and worked hard to recruit students and families into the PROSPER program. At times, they expressed frustrations with poor community response to the SFP:10-14 program (low response makes it difficult to offer this program). On those occasions where recruitment for SFP:10-14 did not meet expectations, they decided to exclusively implement the school-based Life Skills Training program. Due to the relatively low cost of that program, they were able to develop an effective sustainability plan that will get them through at least the next several years. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Opportunities for training and professional development are endemic within the PROSPER program implementation and technical assistance process, and fundamental to PROSPER overall. PROSPER cannot be sustained in rural communities without the prevention coordinators, team leaders, and program facilitators and their engagement in both initial training and continuing professional development opportunities. Those involved in program implementation are encouraged to continue, post-project, to participate in learning communities and annual program training updates in which new techniques and best practices are communicated. A total of six facilitators, three teachers, and three team leaders engaged in training and professional development activities during the course of this project. The Shikellamy School District in Northumberland County hosted an SFP: 10-14 training session through which six new facilitators were trained. Team leaders participated in the usual PROSPER technical assistance training, which included bi-weekly consultation with prevention coordinators and monthly team phone calls. One face-to-face professional development meeting was held in State College, Pennsylvania, in March 2018, and the PROSPER Statewide Meeting, held annually, included all team members. The statewide meeting offered a number of professional development presentations as well as opportunities for networking across teams. In August 2018, 2 teachers in Mifflin County and 1 teacher in Juniata County participated in the on-line, interactive training for the Life Skills Training program. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results were disseminated to communities of interest in several ways, including information-sharing through home organizations and community partners; monthly PROSPER team meetings held in communities; and the statewide meeting, held annually at Penn State and which includes all PROSPER teams and team members. Additionally, members of the PROSPER leadership team, including Dr. Janet Welsh, Dr. Daniel Perkins, and several of the senior Extension educators, routinely gave presentations across the state regarding PROSPER and the importance of evidence based prevention and implementation quality. Approximately 12 public presentations were given, most emphasizing PROSPER's effectiveness at reducing opioid misuse. Examples of presentations to statewide or national audiences include the following: Welsh, J.A. (2019, April). Effective community based prevention to combat opioid misuse. Presentation at the inaugural meeting of the Consortium to Combat Substance Abuse (CCSA), State College, PA. Welsh, J.A., & Tomascik, M.O. (2018, November). Evidence based prevention in community settings in Pennsylvania. Presentation at the 4th Annual Addiction Symposium, Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, PA. Spoth, R.L., Welsh, J.A., & Johnson, M. (2018, February). PROSPER: Overview, integration with other models, application to the opioid crisis. Presentation at the annual meeting of the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA), Washington, DC. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?At the conclusion of this project, we are encouraged by community efforts toward sustainability of the PROSPER program, and expect to continue working with these communities for the foreseeable future. For example, in the Shikellamy School District, Northumberland County, PROSPER team meetings consisting of school administrators, United Way representatives, and others from outside agencies are working together to ensure the continuation of this initiative and identify and apply for funds to sustain it. Communities are working to identify and apply for funding from local sources that will pay programming costs. One important source of information in making applications is evidence of the effectiveness of the interventions as demonstrated in evaluation findings. A greater challenge in sustaining community involvement is continuing funding for the Extension educator and prevention coordinator positions that are critical to PROSPER implementation. The Shikellamy community is dedicated to sustain PROSPER moving forward. The guidance counselor at the middle school will continue to implement Life Skills Training to every 7th grader. Northumberland County Drug and Alcohol has pledged money to buy manuals and supplies. It also will fund a facilitator training in early spring of 2020. United Way has also secured resources to run the Strengthening Families Program for at least 2020.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The Health Promotion in Rural Pennsylvania project had one primary goal: to expand the number of rural communities using the evidence-based PROSPER (PROmoting School-community-university Partnerships to Enhance Resilience) model. During the course of this project, three new communities were successfully recruited into the program, increasing the total number of active PROSPER communities in Pennsylvania to 20. PROSPER is a scientifically proven method for scaling up, sustaining, and implementing an evidence-based, high-quality prevention program for youth. Evidence-based interventions present special challenges to both practitioners and scientists working in rural areas, including the insufficient number of evidence-based interventions to adequately address all populations and settings, as well as the resource requirements for evidence-based intervention implementation. PROSPER has been proven effective in supporting community and school efforts to prevent substance use prevention and ensure youth and family well-being. During the course of its 15+ years, the PROSPER program has actively collected data on rural community and family outcomes through an implementation and outcome evaluation that involves the collection of ongoing implementation quality data for the two prevention programs being implemented (Life Skills Training [school-based implementation] and functioning data related to sustainability planning, and outcome data involving student reports of substance use and problematic behavior from the Pennsylvania Youth Survey (PAYS). The following was accomplished during the course of this project: (1) Identification and training of community team leaders--identification and training of Extension team leaders, with leaders engaging in a one-day (6-hour) meeting at Penn State, where new team leaders were familiarized with the PROSPER model, programs, and implementation monitoring process. TLs had an opportunity to meet evaluation staff, prevention coordinators, and other team leaders. The initial training was followed up with a series of individual meetings between TLs and their PCs, in which project phases and technical assistance associated with each phase were explained. (2) Team formation--technical leaders and prevention coordinators met with the school co-leader, identified other stakeholders, and recruited them to the team, and collaborated on all program activities. Stakeholders included local Communities That Care boards/board members (Communities That Care is an evidence-based program that promotes healthy youth development, improves youth outcomes, and reduces problem behaviors). (3) Identification and training of evidence-based program (LST, SFP:10-14) facilitators--program facilitators were identified and trained to offer and implement the selected evidence-based programs; training occurred through certified SFP:10-14 trainers available through the Penn State EPISCenter. Program observers, who monitored implementation quality, also were trained at this time. (4) Collection of pre-intervention survey data--School districts involved in this project all participated in the Pennsylvania Youth Survey (PAYS), an anonymous survey completed biannually by students in grades 6, 8, 10 and 12 in participating districts in Pennsylvania. The PAYS assesses many aspects of youth behavior, attitudes, and knowledge regarding health and mental health, including substance use, delinquent behavior and gang involvement, exposure to violence, suicidal thoughts, attitudes toward school, and peer and family relationships. PAYS items most aligned with the evidence-based programs followed in PROSPER were selected for analysis in this initiative. These included substance use behaviors; substance use norms; substance use attitudes; substance use beliefs & attitudes; and family relationship quality. (5) Family recruitment--working closely with the PC, the team developed a recruiting strategy for families of 5th- and 6th- grade youth to participate in the SFP:10-14 program. (6) Family program implementation--once families were recruited, the communities offered the 7-week family program. Each community implemented two groups of 10-12 families per year (20-24 families per year). (7) School program implementation: With input from the PROSPER team, the school chose a program from the PROSPER menu to be implemented as part of its usual curriculum with either 6th- 7th graders or elementary school students (depending on the program chosen). Teachers and program observers completed on-line training currently available from the curriculum developers prior to implementation. (8) Post-intervention data collection & analysis--Information from the Fall 2019 PAYS administration for students in grade 8 was compared to the grade 6 pre-intervention data collection. Student rates of substance use and problem behavior in the targeted communities were compared with those of previous cohorts of same-aged students who did not receive PROSPER programs. New PROSPER Communities This grant made possible the addition of three new counties into the PROSPER initiative in Pennsylvania: Mifflin, Juniata, and Northumberland. Each county selected the evidence-based program supported by PROSPER (LST; SFP:10-14); a community team was responsible for program implementation, data collection, reporting, and student/family support in applying program elements. The three counties are listed below with the program selected and number of students and families involved in each program, in each community. Juniata County: Life Skills Elementary for grade 6 (approximately 450 students, 2016-2019) Mifflin County: SFP:10-14 for families with children in grades 5-6 (approximately 56 families, 2016-2019) Life Skills Training for grade 7 (approximately 1,075 students, 2016-2019) Northumberland County: SFP:10-14 for families with children in Shikellamy schools (approximately 47 families, 2016-2019) Life Skills Training for grade 7 (approximately 730 students, 2016-2019) Strategic/Enhanced Communication Project As a rural health and prevention promotion initiative, the PROSPER project continues to have positive impacts on rural communities, families, and children. The project's focus has been on community impact; less attention has been paid to a sustainable communication strategy that would ensure wider state and even national information-sharing around this initiative. We used a portion of our funding to plan for a statewide communication strategy designed to broaden community knowledge of this initiative and extend it into national contexts, especially to rural communities who would benefit from PROSPER's impacts and lessons. The PROSPER team has been working to develop the infrastructure needed to support a broad scale-up of PROSPER statewide. Part of this work includes the development of a strategy for communicating with parents, educators, and policy makers regarding best practices in prevention education, and we have coordinated our efforts with the Commonwealth Prevention Alliance (CPA), which has worked with experts in communication and marketing in the development of this messaging. Some of the resources remaining in this grant were deployed toward a statewide communication campaign for prevention education, including updates and enhancements to the state PROSPER website, which is an important hub of communications and information-sharing with the PROSPER team leaders, prevention coordinators, and program facilitators, as well as community stakeholders and state and local officials and school districts.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/17 to 08/31/18
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience for this program includes middle school youth (ages 10-14) and their parents and caregivers, living in school districts participating in PROSPER. Changes/Problems:There have been no major problems or changes to the plan in the past year. During the first year of the project, the team leader in Shikellamy School district was not effective and very little progress was made in that district. However, that person was replaced with a much more experienced and motivated team leader, and during the past year progress in that community has proceeded as planned. The Mifflin and Juniata teams were very strong, although the Juniata team was disappointed by the poor response from the community to the SFP:10-14 program, and they were unable to offer this program due to low recruitment of families. They therefore decided to exclusively implement the school based program. Due to the relatively low cost of that program, they were able to develop an effective sustainability plan that will get them through at least the next several years. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Shikellamy hosted an SFP:10-14 training session which trained 6 new facilitators. The team leaders participated in the usual PROSPER TA, which included bi-weekly consultation with prevention coordinators and monthly team phone calls. We had one face-to-face professional development meeting in State College in March 2018, as well as the PROSPER Statewide Meeting, which included all team members, in May of 2018. This meeting includes a number of professional development presentations as well as opportunities for networking across teams. In August of 2018, 2 teachers in Mifflin County and 1 in Juniata County participated in the on-line, interactive training for the Life Skills Training program. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Information regarding PROSPER is disseminated to community partners regularly through the monthly PROSPER team meetings, which are held in the communities, and the Statewide meeting, which is held annually in State College and includes all PROSPER teams and team members. Additionally, members of the PROSPER leadership team, including Dr. Janet Welsh, Dr. Daniel Perkins and several of the senior Extension educators, routinely give presentations across the state regarding PROSPER and the importance of evidence based prevention and implementation quality. In the past year, 9 such public presentations were given, most emphasizing PROSPER's effectiveness at reducing opioid misuse. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the upcoming reporting period, we plan to do the following: 1. Continue to implement PROSPER programs in all 3 communities supported by the project. 2. In the two communities implementing the family based program (SFP:10-14), we will focus on identifying strategies to sustain the interventions. Both communities have already identified local sources that will pay programming costs, what is more challenging is sustaining the Extension educator and prevention coordinator positions that are critical to PROSPER implementation. 3. PROSPER teams will work with schools to analyze their data from the Pennsylvania Youth Survey (PAYS) to assess the impacts of these programs and to identify further prevention needs and concerns.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
This past year, the following programs were implemented in three districts: Juniata - the Juniata PROSPER team implemented the Life Skills Training program with approximately 150 students in grade 6. Mifflin - the Mifflin County PROSPER Team implemented the Life Skills Training program with approximately 275 students in grade 7. Additionally, the SFP:10-14 program was implemented with 10 families during the Fall 2017 session, and 7 families during the Spring, 2018 session. Shikellamy - the Shikellamy PROSPER team implemented Life Skills Training program with approximately 175 students in grade 7. In the Fall they trained 6 SFP:10-14 facilitators, and in the spring they ran 1 session of SFP with 10 families.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/16 to 08/31/17
Outputs
Target Audience:First, the target audience for this period involvedcommunity stakeholders interested in positive youth development in the three targeted communities. This included school personnel, staff from social service agencies such asdrug & alcohol, mental health, law enforcement, juvenile justice, and human services,parents, and youth. These individuals were engaged in all three communities to form the PROSPER teams, all of which have formed and are underway. Second, thetarget audience also includes elementary and middle school aged youth, who receive PROSPER programs along with their parents/caregivers. During this period, teams in all 3 counties selected programs, and in Mifflin County the SFP:10-14 program was delivered to 9 families of 5th & 6th grade students. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?1) Trainings for all EBPs selected by communities have been scheduled, but not yet conducted. Team Leaders will attend these trainings. 2) Team Leaders and Prevention Coordinators have participated in 3 PROSPER Learning Community meetings at the Prevention Research Center, which are day-long,face-to-face professional development meetings for PROSPER staff. Additionally, all PROSPER teams participated in the annual Statewide Meeting in May 2017, where teams had the opportunity to network with each other and to hear from state-level officials about prevention efforts occuring throughout Pennsylvania. 3) All team Leaders and Prevention Coordinators participate on a monthly conference call with the project director designed to address challenges that teams may beare experiencing. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Information about PROSPER has been disseminated from team members through their home organizations. For example, partnering school districts have publicized PROSPER programs to youth in the targeted age ranges and their parents. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the next reporting period, we anticipate the following will occur: 1) Programming decisions will be finalized in Northumberland County 2) Relevant personnel in all counties, including the team leaders and fidelity observers, will be trained in the chosen EBP's 3) EBP implementation will occur in all 3 counties 4) Archival data from the PAYS will be accessed for all communities to establish baseline information in each community.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
During this period, the following goals were met: 1) In all 3 counties, PROSPER team leaders worked with their prevention coordinators and school districts and recruited members to their PROSPER teams. In all cases, this involved collaboration with local CTC boards. All 3 communities now have active teams that meet regularly. 2) In Mifflin and Juniata Counties, teams selected the interventions they wish to deliver through PROSPER, and have arranged for the relevant personnel to be hired and trained. These include teachers for the in-school curriculum, facilitators for the family based curriculum, and fidelity observers for all programs. Mifflin County selected the SFP:10-14 program for grades 5-6 and the Life Skills Training program for grade 7. Juniata County selected Life Skills Elementary to be implemented in grade 6 and SFP:10-14 to be delivered to grades 5-7, beginning in the Fall of 2017. The Northumberland County team has had 3 meetings and is planning to train SFP facilitators in August of 2017 and implement the program in September. Northumberland has not yet selected a school based program, but this is on the agenda for the July 2017 meeting. 3) In Mifflin County, the SFP:10-14 program was implemented with 9 families of 5th-6th grade students during April-May 2017. 4) All communities have taken steps to access their PAYS data, which will be used for program evaluation. Process data collection is ongoing, as PC's complete ratings of team functioning and progress after each bi-weekly phone contact with the team leaders.
Publications
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