207622 Innovative use of California Healthy Kids Survey data to design and sustain alcohol and drug use prevention programs

Wednesday, November 11, 2009: 10:30 AM

Tracy Keenan, MSW, PPSC , Applied Survey Research, Watsonville, CA
  
ASR is evaluating the Safe Schools/Healthy Students (SS/HS) project in the Pajaro Valley Unified School District, located in Watsonville, a predominantly Latino community. The evaluation comprises parent and student surveys, coordination of California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS), data and process analyses. The primary aim of SS/HS is reducing violence and substance abuse among youth in schools and communities. This abstract focuses on using CHKS data to tailor alcohol and other drugs (ATOD) prevention efforts.

Through SS/HS, ASR received raw CHKS data to run further cross tabulations and perform cluster analyses to measure the impact of the programs. In this study, cluster analysis was used to sort respondents into subgroups based on their responses to questions related to the 40 developmental assets. These questions categorized youth who identified themselves as having high/low assets in school and community connectedness, engagement and empowerment. Four distinct portraits emerged from this cluster analysis: high on all assets; high connectedness, low empowerment; high engagement, low connectedness and empowerment; low on all assets. These clusters will be cross tabulated against respondent at-risk behaviors, specifically to identify their ATOD use patterns.

Data will be used to drive and sustain existing SS/HS programs, as well as tailor future programs to youth relevant to their strengths and challenges. An algorithm will be created based on these clusters and applied to past and future data. It will identify whether at-risk cluster groups are decreasing over time.

Data will be available in April 2009.

Methodology approved by ASR's Internal Review Board.

Learning Objectives:
1. Describe how CHKS data regarding youth alcohol and other drug use contributed to specific interventions and policy changes in a school district. 2. Describe how cluster analysis was used to identify profiles of student respondents based on their strengths and at-risk behaviors. 3. Describe a data collection and analysis methodology for evaluation that may be used in other communities.

Keywords: Evaluation, Risk Behavior

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: ASR is a nonprofit social research firm dedicated to conducting and using community-based research to help people build better communities. For over 27 years, ASR has employed best practices within the survey research, assessment and evaluation industries in order to better serve public and private agencies, health and human service organizations, cities and county offices, school districts, institutions of higher learning, and charitable foundations. The following personal financial relationships with commercial interests relevant to this presentation existed during the past 12 months: No relationship to disclose.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

See more of: Understanding ATOD initiatives: Innovative approaches in the field of evaluation
See more of: Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drugs