2018 · Study · English

Community Readiness to Adopt the Communities That Care Prevention System in an Urban Setting

Parker, C. J., Winston, W., Simpson, T., & Brady, S. S.

Parker, C. J., Winston, W., Simpson, T., & Brady, S. S. (2018). Community Readiness to Adopt the Communities That Care Prevention System in an Urban Setting. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 55(5), S59–S69. doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2018.05.022

Summary

Qualitative readiness assessment in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine from a five-year project in a US city that set out to build a coalition for the well-being of Black boys and young men and their families – connectedness to family, school and community, academic investment and social-emotional health, alongside prevention of risk behaviour – following the CTC phases. In the first year (2013/14) the team held semi-structured interviews with 14 community members: parents, school administrators and teachers, community leaders and volunteers. Respondents defined their community, named its strengths and existing resources, imagined what a coalition should do, recommended prevention targets and identified barriers to participation and cohesion. They expressed eagerness to adopt CTC and saw stronger links between home, school and community as the central task. A small single-site study, but one of the few published accounts of CTC readiness work in a disadvantaged urban setting.