2025 · Conference paper · English

Factors Influencing the Effectiveness of Communities That Care in Germany: A Meta-Analysis

von Holt, I., Decker, L., Ünlü, S., Walter, U., & Röding, D.

von Holt, I., Decker, L., Ünlü, S., Walter, U., & Röding, D. (2025). Factors Influencing the Effectiveness of Communities That Care in Germany: A Meta-Analysis. European Journal of Public Health, 35(Supplement_4), Article ckaf161.173. doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckaf161.173

Summary

Conference abstract from the European Public Health Conference 2025 examining how much the short-term effects of Communities That Care vary across German communities in the CTC-EFF study, and why. The design is a non-randomised cluster-controlled study with twelve a-priori matched pairs of CTC and comparison communities. The primary short-term outcome is adoption of an evidence-based prevention strategy; secondary outcomes are prevention and cross-sector collaboration. Community means from 205 key informants were pooled meta-analytically across pairs, and meta-regressions tested implementation quality and community characteristics as moderators. CTC had a positive overall effect on adoption (g = 0.57, p = .02) with significant between-pair variation and substantial heterogeneity (I² = .59). Implementation quality significantly predicted the adoption effect (b = 1.61, p = .02) and explained 40.5% of the heterogeneity. Effects appeared larger in deprived and peripheral communities, but those moderator estimates were not significant (p = .16–.25). The message for European sites: implementation quality, not mere participation, drives what CTC delivers.