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Learning from Communities: Overcoming Difficulties in Dissemination of Prevention and Promotion Efforts

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American Journal of Community Psychology

Abstract

The model of prevention science advocated by the Institute of Medicine (P. J. Mrazek & R. J. Haggerty, 1994) has not lead to widespread adoption of prevention and promotion programs for four reasons. The model of dissemination of programs to communities fails to consider community and organizational capacity to implement programs, ignores the need for congruence in values between programs and host sites, displays a pro-innovation bias that undervalues indigenous practices, and assumes a simplistic model of how community organizations adopt innovations. To address these faults, researchers should locate, study, and help disseminate successful indigenous programs that fit community capacity and values. In addition, they should build on theoretical models of how locally developed programs work to make existing programs and polices more effective.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Michigan State University, Michigan

    Robin L. Miller

  2. New York University, New York

    Marybeth Shinn

  3. Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824

    Robin L. Miller

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  1. Robin L. Miller
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Miller, R.L., Shinn, M. Learning from Communities: Overcoming Difficulties in Dissemination of Prevention and Promotion Efforts. Am J Community Psychol 35, 169–183 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-005-3395-1

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