4 simple guidelines: A streamlined approach to developing effective prevention programming

June 26, 2014 |
Valor

For reasons both personal and professional I have been having a lot of RPE program development conversations as of late. There are so many factors that come into play when planning and developing a program. The program development process can examine and evaluate various and sundry theories of change, risk and protective factors, promising practices, research evidence, contextual evidence, experiential evidence, community readiness, organizational capacity, and, sometimes, even the kitchen sink! It can be easy to get lost in the weeds or feel overwhelmed by seemingly limitless options.
At such times it can be helpful to step back and, as the folk song says, “keep your eyes on the prize.” The prize that most of us seek is a sexual violence prevention program that supports healthy and just communities. We just want our efforts to be effective and successful.
There has been some work on what contributes to effective prevention programs that can be found here and from the PreventConnect Wiki, and from the Interpersonal Violence Prevention Information Center.  Please find a distillation of some of this work below. This tool can help re-focus program planning and development discussions
EffectivePreventionCALCASA (1)