Describes an approach to using evidence to improve the effectiveness of youth programs, both in terms of how they are designed and how they are implemented. The approach capitalizes on the fact that across the many program environments that offer youth programs (e.g., community, mental health, public health, child welfare settings, schools), there is a great deal of well-controlled research available. Further, there is considerable variability in effectiveness across programs that can be reliably predicted from information reported in the research. The goal is to better understand the sources of that variability so that we can uncover the characteristics of effective programs and share guidelines about how to make them more effective with those who design, support, and implement such programs.
Intervention Component Analysis (ICA): A Pragmatic Approach for Identifying the Critical Features of Complex Interventions
Through a worked example, this paper reports on a methodological approach, Intervention Component Analysis (ICA),...