Abstract
Sustainability capacity, always considered a challenge, is the ability to maintain effective long-term intervention in a community. The aim of the study was to improve the sustainability capacity of effective "Som la Pera," a school-based, peer-led, social-marketing intervention that encourages healthy diet and physical activity, in low socioeconomic adolescents from Spain. The sustainability capacity was analyzed by a "programme sustainability assessment tool (PSAT)" comprising eight domains: political support, funding stability, partnerships, organizational capacity, programme evaluation, programme adaptation, communications, and strategic planning. Each domain was evaluated from 1 (no or to a small extent) to 7 points (to a great extent). The final score for sustainability capacity was the mean of the eight domain scores. The PSAT was assessed by nine professionals (researchers, staff members, and stakeholders) at two periods during intervention implementation: end of the first year (January 2015) and end of the second year (September 2015). At the end of the first year, strategic planning (4.43 ± 1.98) and funding stability (4.38 ± 1) were considered deficient domains, and at the end of the second year, these domains had improved by 1.67 points (p =.043) and 0.59 points (p = .159), respectively. The funding stability increase was not significant because only one of the five specific items, "policies implemented to ensure sustained funding," improved by 1.08 points (p = .036). The sustainability capacity final score was 5.93 ± 1.13. The sustainability capacity assessment during the intervention allows its improvement before the programme expires, ensuring the long-term implementation of the "Som la Pera" intervention programme to encourage healthy lifestyles in adolescents.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 739-744 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Translational Behavioral Medicine |
| Volume | 8 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| Early online date | 8 Sept 2018 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Oct 2018 |
Bibliographical note
Acknowledgments: This research project has been developed as an EYTOcomponent, and the National Children’s Bureau of the UK is responsible for
the general data analysis of the four EYTO project participating countries;
however, the Spanish sustainability capacity will be analyzed by our research
team. We appreciate the enthusiastic support of our European partners:
Komunikujeme (Czech Republic), Companhia de Ideias (Portugal), and the
National Children’s Bureau (United Kingdom). The Spanish research project
has been supported by Central Market of Reus, Spain (Mercat Central de
Reus), which provides fresh food for the intervention, and the Municipality of
Reus, Spain [Ajuntament de Reus, Spain]. We thank the professors, parents,
and young people of the high schools of Reus for their enthusiastic participation
in this study. The authors declare that the research project was funded
by the European Commission (European Directorate General HEALTH—
December 19, 2012). This funder did not play a role in the Spanish study design,
data collection, study management, data analysis, data interpretation,
article writing, or decision to submit the report for publication.
Supplementary material is available at Translational
Behavioral Medicine online.
Keywords
- sustainability
- school-based interventions
- lifetsyles
- public health
