2026 · Study · English

Community readiness in the system pilot of "Communities That Care" in Brazil

Thurow, C. F., Franzoloso, T., Silva, G. G., Corrêa, A. de O., Gentil, C. G., Brown, E. C., Noto, A. R., & Schneider, D. R.

Thurow, C. F., Franzoloso, T., Silva, G. G., Corrêa, A. de O., Gentil, C. G., Brown, E. C., Noto, A. R., & Schneider, D. R. (2026). Community readiness in the system pilot of "Communities That Care" in Brazil. Psicologia: Teoria e Pesquisa, 42, Article e42407. doi.org/10.1590/0102.3772e42407.en

Summary

Quantitative, descriptive cross-sectional study of community readiness in the Brazilian pilot of Communities That Care. Community readiness combines leaders’ perception of the need for change in their territory with the local capacity to bring change about. The authors assessed it with 34 community leaders in São Paulo and 36 in Florianópolis. Results showed difficulties in driving change in both places and structural differences between the two communities, yet leaders’ opinions within each community were cohesive. There was unanimous recognition that drug use is a risk behaviour and that drugs are easily accessible locally, and a perceived urgency to implement preventive programmes, although such programmes were not well known. The authors conclude that investing in readiness assessment can be crucial preparation for community interventions. The samples are small and the design cross-sectional, limiting generalisation. For European sites the study is a practical example of using readiness measurement as a Phase 1 diagnostic before committing a coalition.