Diffusion of preventive innovations☆
Introduction
Prevention is generally much cheaper than treatment. This statement is certainly true in the field of addictions. Then why do we not devote greater attention and resources to the prevention of addictions? How could we more effectively diffuse and implement new ideas in addiction prevention, both to professional addiction staff and to their clients?
In order to answer this question, we draw on the theory of the diffusion of innovations, a framework that has been applied to various programs in health prevention, including drug addiction Ferrence, 2001, Martin et al., 1998.
Section snippets
The diffusion model
Diffusion is the process through which (1) an innovation (2) is communicated through certain channels (3) over time (4) among the members of a social system (Rogers, 1995). Diffusion is a special type of communication concerned with the spread of messages that are perceived as dealing with new ideas, and necessarily represent a certain degree of uncertainty to an individual or organization. The four main elements in the diffusion of new ideas are (1) innovation, (2) communication channels, (3)
Preventive innovations
Preventive innovations are new ideas that require action at one point in time in order to avoid unwanted consequences at some future time (Rogers, 1995). The rewards to the individual from adopting a preventive innovation are often delayed in time, are relatively intangible, and the unwanted consequence may not occur anyway. Thus, preventive innovations are relatively low in relative advantage, compared to nonpreventive innovations. Past research shows that perceived relative advantage is the
Strategies for diffusing preventive innovations
What strategies could be used to speed up the diffusion and use of preventive innovations?
- 1.
Change the perceived attributes of preventive innovations. As mentioned previously, the relative advantage of a preventive innovation needs to be stressed (Lock & Kaner, 2000).
- 2.
Utilize champions to promote preventive innovations. A champion is an individual who devotes his/her personal influence to encourage adoption of an innovation. Goodman and Steckler (1989) found that champions for health ideas were
Discussion
Under ordinary conditions, the diffusion process for an innovation, even one with considerable relative advantage, requires a lengthy time period. Understanding the diffusion process (on the basis of the some 6200 diffusion studies completed to date) can help suggest strategies, such as those above, to speed up the diffusion process. Unfortunately, preventive innovations (like most new ideas in the addiction field) generally diffuse relatively slowly, even when promising diffusion strategies
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Paper presented at the Addictions 2002 Conference on Integrating Substance Abuse Treatment and Prevention in the Community, Eindhoven, The Netherlands, September 15–17, 2002.