Prevention at the grass roots: the time to sow

Methods originally developed for turning advances in agricultural science into better farming methods are being utilized in Ireland to transfer prevention science research into practical community-based initiatives, as part of a strategy for improving outcomes for the country’s children.

The model is called Cooperative Extension. Its strongest associations are with US agriculture, but the underlying educational theory has links with the ideas of radical thinkers such as the philosopher-educator John Dewey [1].

Cooperative Extension [2] depends on "extension educators" who are connected to universities but live and work directly in and with communities. They are assigned to understand local needs and to build mutually trusting relationships with constituents.

Earlier in the year a team from the Prevention Research Center (PRC) at Penn State University met representatives of Atlantic Philanthropies (AP) and local stakeholders from throughout the island of Ireland to discuss AP’s strategy for improving children's outcomes.

Of the connections with Cooperative Extension and the resonances with other methods of empowering populations at the grass roots, PRC’s Coordinator of Policy Research and Outreach Brian Bumbarger says: "At the time of Extension movement’s infancy, breakthroughs in hybridization were creating the potential for big increases in crop yields: extension educators went to work literally 'sowing the seeds' of innovation.

"Today we're engaged in a similar mission to spread the word about innovations in effective prevention and health promotion, and some of the issues faced by those early extension educators seem still to be relevant. Like hybrid seeds, effective prevention services cannot thrive unless they are planted in fertile ground.

"Offering proven, high quality programming and implementing it with fidelity may result in improved health and behavioral outcomes for children, but to ensure the gains are felt by future cohorts, we must also address issues of infrastructure and organizational development.

"Atlantic Philanthropies and the Irish governments have begun a structured process of developing and implementing a large number of services throughout the island, and testing their efficacy in randomized trials. However, the goal however is not to show that outcomes have improved just for the children involved in the intervention trials, but to create a system of effective services that will improve outcomes for children for generations to come.

"How agencies and organizations operate, and how they interact with one another to form functional systems will be as important to the success of the Atlantic investment as the services developed and the skill and finesse with which they are implemented. No matter how innovative the seed, it can only thrive in fertile ground."