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A Community–Academic Partnership for School‐Based Nonviolence Education: The Healthy Power Program
Author(s) -
Dunn Melissa,
Drew Christa,
O'Brien Joseph,
Wood Michael,
Mora Eriberto,
Diener Sam,
Perry Donna J.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of school health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.851
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1746-1561
pISSN - 0022-4391
DOI - 10.1111/josh.12850
Subject(s) - general partnership , focus group , medical education , conflict resolution , participatory evaluation , psychology , program evaluation , participatory action research , community based participatory research , pedagogy , sociology , medicine , political science , social science , public administration , anthropology , law
BACKGROUND Youth violence is a significant problem affecting community health. Community–academic partnerships can advance youth nonviolence education by synergizing the strengths of collaborators while working toward a common goal. We describe a collaboration between an urban public middle school, community nonprofit, and university‐based graduate school of nursing in implementing and evaluating the Healthy Power program, a school‐based youth nonviolence program for middle‐school boys. METHODS A participatory program evaluation approach was used to plan and implement evaluation of the Healthy Power program with a cohort of 8 students. Collaborative planning allowed for the selection of measures that reflected program objectives and were of value to community partners while also scientifically sound. A mixed‐methods approach included a focus group and a pretest–posttest with quantitative items and open‐ended questions. RESULTS While the quantitative pre‐posttest did not show any significant change, the open‐ended questions and focus group suggested that students had advanced their understanding and application of conflict resolution skills. CONCLUSIONS The findings support the usefulness of community–academic partnerships for peace/conflict resolution education and program evaluation. Such programs may benefit from mixed methods of evaluation.