Description
ABC-CLIO Community Prevention Trials for Alcohol Problems Methodological Issues by Harold D. Holder, Jan M. Howard
The contributors to this volume demonstrate that it is now possible to undertake community prevention trials of alcohol-involved problems with the same precision, good design, and careful planning that has characterized similar prevention trials for heart disease and cancer prevention. This is the first book to establish a scientific basis for the integration of research into program design and in program evaluation, making it possible to determine if community programs are effective or worth the money spent for them._x000D__x000D__x000D__x000D_In part I, the contributors address issues of outcome measures, selection of relevant community interventions, utilization of appropriate research designs and analyses, and adjustment to social and political realities. Part II reviews definitions, perspectives, and issues that provide a conceptual base for the rest of the book. Also considered are the selection and measurement of alcohol problems that may be candidate outcome variables for a community intervention study. Part III summarizes the perspectives and prior experiences of community-based approaches in other health areas (including heart disease, cancer, and adolescent health) that may be applicable to the prevention of alcohol-related problems. Experiences and implications of alcohol-prevention projects in Ontario, Texas, and Rhode Island are discussed in part IV. Part V evaluates different experimental designs, methodologies, and relative risk regression models of community-based intervention programs in alcohol prevention. The two chapters in part VI discuss the dynamic social and political realities facing community prevention trials for alcohol problems and guidelines for undertaking such trials. This book will be useful for state and local prevention program planners and evaluators, researchers in alcohol and substance abuse, teachers of applied research methods or social program development and planning, and government policy makers._x000D_ Table of contents :- _x000D_
Foreword by Enoch Gordis Introduction Emergent Agendas for Alcohol Prevention Research by Jan Howard Definitions of Communities and Alcohol Problems What is a Community and what are the Implications for Prevention Trials for Reducing Alcohol Problems? by Harold D. Holder Candidate Alcohol Problems and Implications for Measurement: General Alcohol Problems, Outcome Measures, Instrumentation, and Surrogates by Robert F. Saltz, Paul J. Gruenewald, and Michael Hennessy Lessons and Experiences from Community Trials in Other Health Fields Phases for Developing Community Trials: Lessons for Control of Alcohol Problems from Research in Cardiovascular Disease, Cancer, and Adolescent Health by John W. Farquhar and Stephen P. Fortmann Designs Employed in Community Heart Disease and Cancer Prevention Projects by Thomas M. Lasater Lessons from Early Community Prevention Efforts for Alcohol Abuse Focusing on the Drinking Environment or the High-Risk Drinker in Prevention Projects: Limitations and Opportunities by Norman Giesbrecht and Ann Pederson Integrating Alcohol Abuse Prevention into Community Programs for Other Health Problems: Issues and Experiences by Alfred McAlister and Elizabeth Edmundson Prevention Experiments in the Context of Ongoing Community Process: Opportunities or Obstacles for Research by Robert L. Stout Research Designs, Methods, and Analytic Models Estimating the Effects of Community Prevention Trials: Alternative Designs and Methods by Charles S. Reichardt Case-Control Studies: Can They Evaluate Preventive Measures for Reducing Alcohol Problems? by Cornelia J. Baines Some Alternative Models Based on Relative Risk Regression for the Analysis of Community-Based Intervention Studies by Steven G. Self Community Prevention Programs as Natural Experiments by H. Lawrence Ross Implementing Research Designs Protecting the Scientific Integrity of Community Intervention Studies: Confronting Social Realities by Jan Howard and Ivan Barofsky Undertaking a Community Prevention Trial to Reduce Alcohol Problems: Translating Theoretical Models into Action by Harold D. Holder Insights, Caveats, and Alternative Research Agendas Promoting Comprehensive Interventions by Lawrence W. Green Confronting Drinking Cultures by Ernestine Vanderveen Targeting Consumption as an Endpoint by Thomas C. Harford Focusing on Community Structure and Process by Marjorie A. Gutman Clarifying Concepts and Terminology by David P. Byar Replicating Community Studies by Lawrence S. Freedman Learning from Experience by Charles S. Reichards Analyzing Communities as Communities by Alexander C. Wagenaar Transforming Noise into Signals by Michael Hennessy Bibliography Index_x000D_