Summary:

Measurement of sustainment of prevention programs and initiatives: the sustainment measurement system scale

The underdeveloped state of measurement of sustainment poses one of the most serious methodological challenges to understanding and facilitating sustainability of evidence-based practices and programs. This paper describes the development of the Sustainment Measurement System Scale (SMSS) for measuring both determinants and outcomes of efforts to sustain prevention programs and initiatives. The SMSS demonstrated good reliability and convergent and discriminant validity, and can be used to conduct audits and provide feedback on sustaining prevention programs and initiatives once initial funding has ended.

Authors: Palinkas, Lawrence A; Chou, Chih-Ping; Spear, Suzanne E; Mendon, Sapna J;
Villamar, Juan; Brown, C Hendricks