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Using Planned Adaptation to Implement Evidence-Based Programs with New Populations

  • Original Paper
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American Journal of Community Psychology

Abstract

The Interactive Systems Framework (ISF) for Dissemination and Implementation (Wandersman et al. 2008) elaborates the functions and structures that move evidence-based programs (EBPs) from research to practice. Inherent in that process is the tension between implementing programs with fidelity and the need to tailor programs to fit the target population. We propose Planned Adaptation as one approach to resolve this tension, with the goal of guiding practitioners in adapting EBPs so that they maintain core components of program theory while taking into account the needs of particular populations. Planned Adaptation is a form of capacity building within the Prevention Support System that provides a framework to guide practitioners in adapting programs while encouraging researchers to provide information relevant to adaptation as a critical aspect of dissemination research, with the goal of promoting wider dissemination and better implementation of EBPs. We illustrate Planned Adaptation using the JOBS Program (Caplan et al. 1989), which was developed for recently laid-off, working- and middle-class workers and subsequently implemented with welfare recipients.

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Notes

  1. While there remains a great need for further progress by prevention researchers in measuring and testing more complex models that clearly point to change-producing mediating and moderating mechanisms, there are a number of initiatives that identify certified EBPs in a range of research areas. Many of these programs, though not all of them, provide empirical evidence on core program components. The following list includes a selection of such initiatives: (1) Blueprints for Violence Prevention Model and Promising Programs (http://www.colorado.edu/cspv/blueprints/); (2) SAMSHA effective substance abuse and mental health programs (http://modelprograms.samhsa.gov/template_cf.cfm?page=model_list); (3) Center for Healthy Aging model health program for communities (http://www.healthyagingprograms.org/content.asp?sectionid=30); (4) Social Programs that Work (http://www.evidencebasedprograms.org/); and (5) Evidence-based Associates (http://www.evidencebasedassociates.com/programs/).

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Acknowledgement

The first author was supported by NIMH training grant T32-MH63057 during preparation of this manuscript. An earlier version of this paper was presented at a symposium of the 2004 Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR) annual meeting, New Orleans, LA. We would like to thank Abe Wandersman, Amiram D. Vinokur, Daphna Oyserman, and two anonymous reviewers for helpful comments on earlier drafts of this paper.

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  1. School of Social Work and Merrill-Palmer Skillman Institute for Child and Family Development, Wayne State University, 4756 Cass Avenue, Detroit, MI, USA

    Shawna J. Lee

  2. Graduate School of Social Work, University of Denver, Denver, CO, USA

    Inna Altschul

  3. School of Social Work & Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Carol T. Mowbray

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  1. Shawna J. Lee
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  2. Inna Altschul
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Correspondence to Shawna J. Lee.

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Lee, S.J., Altschul, I. & Mowbray, C.T. Using Planned Adaptation to Implement Evidence-Based Programs with New Populations. Am J Community Psychol 41, 290–303 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-008-9160-5

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