11.4 SMART 5.1. Community Norms Ranked as High or Low Importance (If high, complete data indicators) Data source/question What change do you want to see? Example: 85% of community members believe taking prescription medication without a doctor’s prescription is safe and does not lead to addiction (Local Survey, 2015) Example: Decrease the percentage of community members who believe taking a prescription medication without a doctor’s prescription is safe and does not lead to addiction by 8% by June 2019 (Local Survey, 2019) In your Community Assessment Workbook (Section 12), you prioritized local conditions and related intervening variables by considering “Importance” only. This list illustrates the local conditions which you will – at some point – focus on in this PFS project. You will now rank these local conditions and related intervening variables previously identified as important considering “Changeability”. Changeability describes a community’s capacity to influence a specific intervening variable or local condition. These questions can help you determine a factor’s changeability: Do we have the resources and readiness to address this factor? Does a suitable intervention exist to address this factor? Can we produce outcomes within a reasonable timeframe? When considering changeability for each high importance local condition, it is important to refer back to the work you have already completed in Sections 5 and 6 of your Community Assessment Workbook and your Capacity-Building Workbook. Remember, just because a local condition is ranked “low” on changeability, does not mean you cannot or should not focus in that area. A rank of “low” changeability will provide you with a starting point, and you may need to implement more capacity-building activities prior to implementing a strategy impacting that local condition. The work you complete in this section will assist you in determining when or what order you will address the various local conditions. 12 INTERVENING VARIABLES Retail Availability Social Availability Enforcement Community Norms
CHANGEABILITY HIGH LOW HIGH LOW In this section, you will identify measures for all of the local conditions you prioritized as high importance and these will be your short-term outcomes on your PFS logic model and evaluation plan. These measures are necessary in order to determine whether your prevention efforts have made an impact on your local condition. Be aware that how well the strategy is implemented (measured through process measures) can have an impact on short term outcomes. Considering all the local conditions in Table 6.1 were identified as “Important,” you will be developing short-term outcomes for each – regardless of the “high” or “low” changeability ranking. Short-term outcomes are the initial expected changes in your target population(s) after implementing certain strategies and activities (e.g., changes in knowledge, skills, and attitudes). The short-term outcomes link to the local conditions column in your logic model. These measures are necessary in order to determine whether your prevention efforts have made an impact on your identified problem, or whether you have made an impact on your local condition. To select measurements for your short-term outcome, you will need to know what data indicators were used when identifying the high importance local conditions. When writing outcomes, it is best to follow the SMART model. SMART outcomes are: Specific: includes the “who”, “what”, and “where”. Use only one action verb to avoid issues with measuring success. Measurable: focuses on “how much” change is expected. Achievable: realistic given program resources and planned implementation.
Effective? Relevant? (Conceptual Fit) Appropriate? (Practical Fit) A strategy can be considered evidence-based if it fulfills one of the following three conditions: Inclusion in Federal registries of evidence-based interventions; Reported (with positive effects on the primary targeted outcome) in peer-reviewed journals; or Documented effectiveness supported by other sources of information and the consensus judgment of informed experts To assess conceptual fit of a strategy, consider whether it clearly fits with your logic model by asking the following questions: Does it address the problem? Does it address the conditions associated with the problem? Does it target a relevant population and/or context (e.g., youth, parents, retailers, law enforcement, etc.)? Ask yourself the following questions to help determine practical fit: Is the strategy feasible? (Does the community have the resources needed for the strategy?) Is there synergism? (Does the intervention add to or reinforce other prevention strategies or efforts?) Is the community ready? (Will stakeholders and the community support the strategy?) Is the intervention culturally relevant? (Will the focus population be impacted by the strategy and will they be receptive to it? Are people who will be impacted by the strategy involved in the planning?) For more information on identifying “best fit” strategies, review: PFS The North Dakota PFS project staff developed the PFS Pre-Approved Strategy Menu, identifying strategies that are evidence-based (Effective?) and linking those strategies to intervening variables and related local conditions (Relevant?). If you choose to select a strategy that is not on this Pre-Approved Strategy Menu, you need to submit a request by completing the following form found in Appendix B: “Request for Evidence-Based Strategy” and submitting to . PFS PFS 2020. PFS Local Condition to Address High or Low Changeability Evidence-Based Strategy (s) Why (discuss practical fit) The strategies you identified in Table 7.1 represent a set of strategies which address the local conditions (and related intervening variables) you prioritized as “high importance” in your Community Assessment YOUR
Inputs/Resources SPF Step 2 Problem Statement SPF Step 1 Strategies SPF Step 3 Activities SPF Steps 3-4 Outcomes SPF Step 5 Problem But Why? (intervening variables) But Why Here? (local conditions) Short-term (how will local conditions change?) Intermediate (how will intervening variables change?) Long-term* (how will the problem change?)