| Evidence-Based Prevention Programs: From Recognition of Need to Final Evaluation by Gary Walby |
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An aspirin a day keeps the doctor away... just one of many prevention sayings that are part of everyday communication. Yet, what is prevention? How do we know that prevention works? It is difficult to prove success when your main evidence is that something didn't happen that may not have happened anyway! Yet, prevention is the elephant in the living room. Intuitively, we know that prevention is a good idea. It is far less expensive then medical or mental health treatments and much less invasive. Who wouldn't want to avoid the onset of hypertension, heart disease, depression, anxiety, diabetes or criminal behavior? This book, written by a public health trained professional with 25 years of clinical and prevention experience, can be used in the classroom or by community agencies that are developing or incorporating prevention programming, or anyone interested in how prevention works and how they can contribute to prevention efforts. Author Profile: Professionally, Gary has over 12 years of teaching experience in psychology, public health, and human services. He has been a case manager for the severely mentally ill, treated children and families dealing with trauma and abuse, is an expert witness in trauma and its effects in court settlings, has been a private practitioner as well as a therapist in community health, and has researched mental illness, recovery, substance abuse, diabetes, hypertension, and other challenges to health and quality of life. He also is a successful grant writer, developer and evaluator of programs and is currently the CEO of Best Practices Development Institute, Inc., a company he began and organized in order to improve the bridge between research and practice, champion the cause of evidence-based prevention, and to use the principles of science to better service delivery. |