Cultural adaptation guidelines for evidence-based substance abuse interventions: Outcomes from the Strengthening Families Program

The Strengthening Families Program (SFP) is an evidence-based family skills training intervention developed and found efficacious for substance abuse prevention by U.S researchers in the 1980's on NIDA and NIAAA grants. In the 1990's a cultural adaptation process was developed to transport SFP for effectiveness trials with diverse populations (African, Hispanic, Asian, Pacific Islander, and Native American). In 2003, Dr. Foxcroft and associates with the Cochrane Collaboration Reviews at Oxford University conducted a meta-analysis of universal, school-based, alcohol prevention programs. They concluded that SFP 10-14 Year was twice as effect as any other program with at least two years of follow-up data. Since 2003, the four different age versions of SFP (3-5, 6-11,10-14, and 12-16 Years) have been culturally adapted for use in 17 countries. This presentation will review the SFP theory and multiple research studies by independent researchers in a number of countries. The success of SFP with diverse cultures has depended on a recommended cultural adaptation process involving community/researcher collaborations. Challenges in international dissemination of evidence-based programs (EBPs) will be discussed based on the results a United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime international dissemination protocol developed by the presenter and USA governmental initiatives to transport EBP family interventions to developing countries. The technology transfer and quality assurance system are described including the language translation and cultural adaptation process for materials development; staff training, and on-site and on-line web-based supervision; and technical assistance and evaluation services to assure quality implementation and process evaluation feedback for improvements.