Adapting a Best Practice Program to Reach Latino Families

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Adapting a Best Practice Program to Reach Latino
Families

• Washington State University Extension
• Diana Castro and Ann Diede

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Best Practice Model

• Strengthening Families Program for Parents and
  Youth 10-14 Years
• Developed in Iowa, studied original cohort
  intensively. 113 families mostly rural, mostly
  white in program, similar controls matched.
  Famous for its research base.
• Imported to Washington State in 1999.

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Implementation of the Strengthening Families
Program

• Began on a pilot basis by WSU Extension in 1999.
  
• By the end of 1999, two WSU Faculty had completed
  training as trainers and began to offer training
  across the state to WSU Extension and its
  partners.
• Found that community based trainings were the
  most effective in establishing the model as one
  that could be implemented.

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WSU Extension 426 facilitators trained statewide
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Statewide Efforts

• Early efforts focused on training, implementation
  and tracking WSU efforts and partners at the
  local level.
• Establishing a statewide evaluation system was a
  significant achievement.
• Early data gathering showed significant gains in
  the participants.

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2154 parents/caregivers and youth in 17 counties
served by WSU trained facilitators
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Statewide Interagency Effort

• WSU Extension led the effort to create an
  Interagency Team that would support
  implementation and statewide evaluation effort.
• Team created in 2003 as an Advisory Group.
• First recommendation Bring the Spanish program
  to Washington!

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Initiation of Spanish Program

• By 2002, need for Spanish program was obvious.
• Advisory Group affirmed the need.
• Pan American Health Organization Spanish version
  was developed in 2003 in cooperation with the
  program developers.
• WSU sponsored a training for Spanish program in
  February 2004. Eight (8) teams were trained to
  conduct the program in Spanish.

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Spanish Program Development Strategies

• Unanimous support from internal and external
  partners for expansion to underserved Latino
  families.
• WSU Extension resources were available at a
  critical time that allowed for both facilitator
  training and to develop in-house trainers for
  Spanish program.
• Put our resources into training, team development
  and curriculum improvements to support local
  programs.

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Curriculum

• User Friendly
• Readable
• Easy to follow
• Schedule
• Allowing extra time
• Materials
• English/Spanish
• Bilingual

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Program Delivery Strategies

• Hold programs in places where families feel safe
• Facilitators are connected to other services
• Trusting relationships
• Partnerships
• Provide a meal

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Recruitment

• Families
• Human Service Providers
• Schools
• Churches
• Local Community Agencies
• Facilitators
• Connected to families by other community programs
• Bilingual
• Program Leader (Coordinator)
• Session Leader

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Programs in Action
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Keys to Success

• Recruit and train bi-lingual Latino facilitators
  to deliver the program
• Develop and adapt program materials to meet
  facilitator, parent and youth needs
• Develop and maintain positive working
  relationships with program partners
• Be willing to make program adaptations based on
  cultural values and needs
• Partnerships with community agencies

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When You Dont Speak Spanish

• Learn about the Latino culture
• Get to know Latinos on an personal level
• Examine your personal attitudes and beliefs about
  working with Latinos and illegal immigrants
• Get acquainted with staff of programs serving
  Latino families and youth in your community

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Go the Extra Mile

• Attend as many program sessions as possible to
  provide support for facilitators and establish a
  relationship with Latino family participants
• Treat Latino facilitators as colleagues and
  valued members of your Extension teaching team
• Make yourself available and willing to put in
  extra time and effort

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Strengthening Families Program Works

• Washington evaluation data show significant
  improvements from pretest to posttest.
• Overall, parents report significant improvement
  in
• Rules About Substance Use
• Positive Involvement With Youth
• Family Harmony
• Communication With Youth

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Parent Changes from Pre to Post
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Spanish Language Evaluation

• We have translated the evaluation into Spanish
  and use it for the Spanish-language programs
• Latino parents report significant changes from
  before to after the program
• Evaluation results reported by Latino
  parents/caregivers are equivalent to those
  reported by non-Latino parents/caregivers

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Latino Parent Changes from Pre to Post
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Future Research

• Our statewide evaluation data helped us to get
  research funding from the National Institute of
  Health (NIH)
• Our next proposals for grants include
• Explore differences in responses to evaluation
• Demonstrate effectiveness of Spanish-language
  program in large-scale longitudinal study

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In Summary

• Build partnerships that facilitate access to
  families and create structures for shared
  evaluation
• Invest in building capacity, including qualified
  trainers and culturally appropriate curricula
• Connect with cultural guides at state and local
  levels to advise on program design and delivery

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For More Information

• Visit our website
• http//sfp.wsu.edu/
• Order Spanish Teaching Manuals
• Magnets from
• WSU Extension Publications
• Phone [phone]
• Toll-free [phone]E-mail
  bulletin_at_wsu.edu
• Website http//pubs.wsu.edu