Prevention of Addiction and Mental Ill Health in Adolescents in Georgia (PAMAd)
Medical Research Council
Curatio International Foundation
The study will first inform how the PAMAd service (package of interventions) is designed in collaboration with potential service beneficiaries (CA and their family members), service providers, main stakeholders and policy makers at national level and also generate evidence on effectiveness of CA targeted service (clinical effectiveness and unit costs of PAMAd service). Proposed research project will use pre and post-test design without control groups (Shadish WR, et al.2002) with nested process evaluation. A controlled design will not be feasible because the research is being undertaken within a developing EC supported service with well-estabished plans and a strict timeline. This offers an unique opportunity for implementation research in a real-world setting that will be an integral part of the PAMAd piloting/development work. This will allow exploration of how the interventions are developed and conducted, mechanisms through which the interventions produce change, and what contextual factors may act as barriers or facilitators to PAMAd implementation. This will be mixed methods research. Quantitative interviews with structured questionnaires will be used to determine socio-demographic status, living conditions, measure outcomes to determine effectiveness of the service and to collect cost data on service. Qualitative data (from in-depth interviews and focus group discussions) will be used to obtain depth of understanding and more comprehensively address the research questions. Data will also be collected on utilization of mental and physical health services, and social services; financial, economic and other barriers to care for common mental health and drug related problems, drug related risks awareness and risk behaviors. Qualitative data from service users and providers, different stakeholders will capture all factors important for duplication of the service in different areas and make it clear for decision makers how feasible its introduction will be.
3.1 Primary prevention interventions to modify behaviours or promote well-being / Research Grant