Prevention Program Development and Evaluation: An Incidence Reduction, Culturally Relevant Approach

The use of seatbelts, the requirements for smoke detectors, and other kinds of public health interventions have been highly successful in reducing disability, injuries, and premature mortality. Prevention in mental health― identifying and treating mental illnesses before they become full blown syndromes or identifying people at risk for a condition―is just as critical to public mental health. This research-based resource gives practitioners a nuts-and-bolts guide to designing and evaluating prevention programs in mental health that are culturally relevant and aimed at reducing the number of new problems that occur.

Key Features

• Employs a 10-step prevention program development and evaluation model that emphasizes the concepts of community, collaboration, and cultural relevance
• Offers a brief, practical, how-to approach that is based on rigorous research
• Identifies specific prevention program development and evaluation steps
• Highlights examples of "everyday prevention" practices as well as concrete prevention programs that have proven, effective implementation
• Promotes hands-on learning with practical exercises, instructive figures, and a comprehensive reference list

Intended Audience
Written in a straightforward and accessible style, Prevention Program Development and Evaluation can be used as a core text in undergraduate courses devoted to prevention or in graduate programs aimed at practice issues. Current practitioners or policymakers interested in designing prevention programs will find this book to be an affable guide.

Robert K. Conyne, Ph.D., William A. Allen Boeing Endowed Chair & Distinguished Professor, Seattle University, 2013-14 and Professor Emeritus from the University of Cincinnati, is a licensed psychologist, clinical counselor, and fellow of the Association for Specialists in Group Work (ASGW) and the American Psychological Association. He has amassed 42 years of professional experience as a university professor and department head, counselor, administrator, consultant, and trainer, and, most recently, as a consultant to military personnel and their families at U.S. installations both at home and overseas. Bob has received many awards, including Eminent Career Award from the ASGW; Lifetime Achievement Award in Prevention, Society of Counseling Psychology of the APA; Distinguished Alumni Award of Distinction from Purdue University; and has been designated a Soros International Scholar. He was the 2009 president of the APA′s Division of Group Psychology and Group Psychotherapy, and in 1996 was president of the Association for Specialists in Group Work. With over 200 scholarly publications and presentations including 14 books in his areas of expertise (group work, prevention, and ecological counseling), along with broad international consultation in these areas, Bob is recognized as an expert in working with people and systems. With colleague (and wife), Lynn S. Rapin, Ph.D., he also helps people plan and prepare psychologically for their upcoming retirement, using the holistic approach they developed, "Charting Your Personal Future." His most recent publication is the Prevention Practice Kit, co-edited with Arthur M. Horne, Ph.D., immediately preceded by the Handbook of Group Counseling (edited, Oxford University Press, 2011).  Forthcoming is the Group Work Practice Kit (edited, Sage).  In all these edited books, Bob also authored contributions.