engleski

An empirical study of implementation quality of prevention programs in Croatia

This paper presents the doctoral research which examines the issue of implementation quality in mental health promotion and prevention programs that are being delivered in the community settings in the Region of Istria, Croatia. The general aim of this paper was to present the study ofimplementation processes and their outcomes in prevention programs in Croatia. In order to answer above stated aim, this doctoral research was conducted through pre-research concerning the construction of implementation scales and two studies, 1) study on implementation quality and 2) study of the impact of Training for Prevention. Sample of the study of implementation quality included managers, implementers and participants from the cohort of 24 community-based mental health promotion and prevention programs in Istria. In general, results have shown that implementation factors are consistently rated lower than indicators of implementation quality. The study on the impact of the Training for Prevention examined if the newly designed Training for Prevention has affected implementation factors and implementation quality in the experimental group. Analyses have shown that program managers and implementers don’t report about improved implementation. Post-test differences have shown that program participants report upon the higher level of two indicators of implementation quality, quality of delivery and responsiveness than participants in the control conditions. Regarding the intervention Training for Prevention effectiveness and its implications on the level of implementation quality, it could be concluded that Training seems promising but its impact still has to be further researched.

mental health promotion and prevention; implementation research; implementation factors; indicators of implementation quality; implementation outcomes

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