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Reciprocal Relations between Coalition Functioning and the Provision of Implementation Support

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Abstract

Community coalitions have been promoted as a strategy to help overcome challenges to the dissemination and implementation of evidence-based prevention programs. This paper explores the characteristics of coalitions that enable the provision of implementation support for prevention programs in general and for the implementation of evidence-based prevention programs with fidelity. Longitudinal cross-lagged panel models were used to study 74 Communities That Care (CTC) coalitions in Pennsylvania. These analyses provide evidence of a unidirectional influence of coalition functioning on the provision of implementation support. Coalition member knowledge of the CTC model best predicted the coalition’s provision of support for evidence-based program implementation with fidelity. Implications for developing and testing innovative methods for delivering training and technical assistance to enhance coalition member knowledge are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

This research is supported by a grant from the National Institute of Drug Abuse (R03DA027942) and the Pennsylvania Commission for Crime and Delinquency (PCCD). Additionally, this article is supported in part by the National Cancer Institute through a Community Networks Program Center grant U54 CA153505. Findings and recommendations herein are not official statements of the NIDA, PCCD, or NCI. The authors acknowledge the enthusiastic support of Michael Pennington, Ruth Williams, Douglas Hoffman, Raymond Moneta, and Clay R. Yeager at PCCD. We are also grateful for the cooperation of the state-funded Communities That Care (CTC) technical assistance providers and the many CTC coalition members in Pennsylvania

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Texas School of Public Health, 1101 N. Campbell, Room 409, El Paso, TX, 79902, USA

    Louis D. Brown

  2. Prevention Research Center, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, USA

    Mark E. Feinberg & Mark T. Greenberg

  3. School of Social Welfare, University of California, Berkeley, USA

    Valerie B. Shapiro

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  1. Louis D. Brown
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  4. Mark T. Greenberg
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Correspondence to Louis D. Brown.

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Brown, L.D., Feinberg, M.E., Shapiro, V.B. et al. Reciprocal Relations between Coalition Functioning and the Provision of Implementation Support. Prev Sci 16, 101–109 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-013-0447-x

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