The PIRE-Louisville team developed a sustainability strategy for substance abuse prevention coalitions, and piloted the strategy with five Tennessee Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF) State Incentive Grant (SIG) coalitions in rural counties in 2009. This study presents a sustainability strategy, its implementation protocols, and a pilot study of implementation and sustainability readiness. The strategy is guided by a conceptual framework that integrates: (a) a strategy for sustaining prevention infrastructure and interventions and (b) the Getting To Outcomes® planning and evaluation process. Data-informed decision making is key to this strategy, which includes initial assessment of sustainability capacity and sustainable innovation characteristics, and progresses through planning, implementation, evaluation, and continuous quality improvement to sustain targeted innovations. A support system for implementing the strategy, including a toolkit, primer, electronic tools, and training and technical assistance, is described. Lessons learned from a pilot study for future testing and implementation of the strategy are also discussed. This study was published in the Journal of Community Psychology (Johnson et al., 2013).
Access the article here: Journal of Community Psychology (Johnson et al., 2013)
