CTC-EFF: Effectiveness of the Communities That Care community prevention system

Term 04/2020 - 12/2023

Funding body

BMBF

Sub-project at the MHH

Prof. Dr. Ulla Walter (project management)
Dr. Dominik Röding (project coordination)

Sub-project at the SUH

Prof. Dr. Renate Soellner (project management)
Dr. Maren Reder (project coordination)

Practice partner

Frederick Groeger-Roth (State Prevention Council of Lower Saxony) and CTC Transferstelle
Sven Kruppik (DPT-Deutscher Präventionstrag gGmbH)

The aim of this BMBF-funded joint project (4/2020-9/2023) is to evaluate and validate the Communities That Care (CTC) prevention system developed in the USA and used worldwide in an extensive replication of the original study. CTC was first implemented in Germany ten years ago(WHO 2023 S 4). The study investigates whether the intervention strengthens knowledge-based prevention and health promotion, optimizes intersectoral cooperation networks and capacity building and has an impact on the health of adolescents. The core of the project is an effectiveness study that examines the effects of CTC at different levels under everyday conditions in a cluster non-randomized controlled trial design. The study includes 12 intervention and 12 matched control municipalities in Germany. A structural, process and outcome evaluation is carried out, which includes the meso (municipality), meso (settings, Facilities or Institutions) and micro level (children, adolescents). Health-related data will be collected in a cross-sectional and longitudinal child and youth survey. A health economic evaluation is also included. Qualitative and quantitative methods are used. The project includes a participatory preliminary phase.

Final report

Röding D, Soellner R, Walter U (2025). Final report on the CTC-EFF project: Effectiveness of the municipal prevention system Communities That Care. Hanover Technical Information Library, Hanover. https://doi.org/10.34657/21665

Publications

Decker L, von Holt I, Ünlü S, Walter U, Röding D (accepted). Early Effects of Communities That Care on the Adoption and Implementation Fidelity of Evidence-Based Prevention Programs in Communities. Results from a Quasi-Experimental Study. Journal of Prevention Science

Röding D, Ünlü S, Brender R, Schmidt N, Walter U (in press). Digital technologies in the local prevention system Communities That Care. In: Fischer F, Wrona KJ (eds.) (in press). Technology-supported approaches in community-based prevention and health promotion. Springer, Wiesbaden et al.

Röding D, Walter U. Effects and benefits of the community-based prevention approach Communities that Care - CTC. In: Peitz J, Funk D, Schreiber V, / Marius Harring M (eds.). Children's worries and fears - approaches, research findings and perspectives. Juventa: Weinheim

Birgel V, Röding D, Walter U (2024). Community capacity for health promotion - results of the CTC-EFF study. Public Health Forum 32(3): 181-185

Röding D, Birgel V, Walter U (2024). Intersectoral cooperation in community prevention and health promotion for children and adolescents. Public Health Forum 32(3): 199-203

Röding D, Birgel V, Walter U (2024). Validation of an instrument to measure community capacity building for prevention. J Public Health 32:1319-1335 doi.org/10.1007/s10389-023-01905-5

Röding D, von Holt I, Decker L, Ünlü S, Walter U (2024). Community health literacy and community capacity building. Prev Gesundheitsf 19, 512-520. doi.org/10.1007/s11553-024-01143-x

Birgel V, Decker D, Röding D, Walter U (2023). Community capacity for prevention and health promotion: a scoping review on underlying domains and assessment methods. Systematic Reviews 12:147, DOI 10.1186/s13643-023-02314-1

Birgel V, Röding D, Reder M, Soellner R, Walter U (2023). Contextual effects of community capacity as a predictor for adolescent alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drug use: A multi-level analysis. SSM - Population Health, Volume 24, 101521. doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmph.2023.101521

Birgel V, Walter U, Röding D (2023). Relating community capacity to the adoption of an evidence-based prevention strategy: a community-level analysis. J Public Health (Berl.) (2023). doi.org/10.1007/s10389-023-02159-x

Röding D, Birgel V, Decker L, Ünlü S, Walter U (2023). How does community-based prevention work for children and adolescents? Initial findings from the CTC-EFF study. Journal Forum Crime Prevention. 01, 13-15

Walter U, Groeger-Roth F, Röding D (2023). Evidence-based prevention for the mental health of children and adolescents: The Communities That Care (CTC) approach for Germany. Bundesgesundheitsbl 66, 774-783 doi.org/10.1007/s00103-023-03725-0

Röding D, Reder M, Soellner R, Birgel V, Stolz M, Groeger-Roth F, Walter U (2022). Evaluation of the science-based community prevention system Communities That Care: study design and baseline equivalence of intermediate outcomes. Prev Gesundheitsf 18, 316-326. doi.org/10.1007/s11553-022-00972-y

Röding D, Soellner R, Reder M, Birgel V, Kleiner C, Stolz M, Groeger-Roth F, Krauth C, Walter U (2021). Study protocol: a non-randomized community trial to evaluate the effectiveness of the communities that care prevention system in Germany. BMC Public Health 21:1927 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-11935-x