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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Sally Black, RN, PhD, Health Services, Saint Joseph's University, 349 Brighton Road, Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462, 610-275-8043, sblack@nti4.com

Bullying affects the whole school environment. Children cannot learn if they are not in a safe environment. Schools have come a long way in addressing bullying. The Olweus Bullying Prevention Program (OBPP) is an internationally recognized, evidence-based program for reducing bullying. The program uses the public health model of needs assessment, identification of problem areas, mobilizing community resources to address bullying at all levels, and outcome evaluation of the program. This project reports implementation of the OBPP program in ten public schools in a large, urban school district. Fidelity of implementation was monitored over the four years of the program. Outcome evaluation measured changes in levels of bullying by student survey and by incident density from baseline to each year of the program. Data on fourth year changes are still being collected in five schools at this time. A dose response relationship was investigated by dividing schools into high fidelity vs. low fidelity to the model. A significant negative correlation (r=-.58; p<.05) existed between fidelity of implementation and changes in student survey results. The correlation between fidelity of implementation and change in incident density was also significant (r=-.57; p<.05). Facilitators to implementation were having strong administrator and staff support, coordinating school rules and procedures with bullying prevention and implementing a socialized recess program. Barriers to implementation were high staff turnover and competing priorities. Future health education programs should consider using fidelity of implementation as a process evaluation tool.

Learning Objectives: By the end of this presentation, the audience will be able to

• Construct an instrument to measure fidelity of implementation to a program;
• Identify best practices for reduction of bullying behavior; and
• Understand obstacles to implementation of school-based health education programs.

Keywords: Youth Violence, School-Based Programs

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation