Cultural Adaptation of a Substance Abuse Prevention Program as a Catalyst for Community Change

Abstract

The aim of the current paper is to discuss the use of Outcome Mapping as a tool for evaluating community and stakeholder changes that occurred when a prevention program was culturally adapted and delivered through a community-university partnership. To the authors’ knowledge, this paper represents the first account of using Outcome Mapping as an evaluation tool in a Canadian Indigenous context. Changes in the behavior, actions, activities, and relationships of five boundary partners were retrospectively documented using the tool. Data demonstrated positive impact on Elders and students; growing community investment in and support for the Maskwacis Life Skills Training program’s cultural components; progressive increases in community ownership of the program; and growth in the community-university partnership. Overall, Outcome Mapping provided a systematic method for understanding peripheral changes that are often overlooked in conventional research and evaluation, but that nonetheless indicate progress toward community changes and long-term impact.