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The implementation of a behavioural support programme: Teachers’ perceptions of the programme and themselves as providers

Maria Ingemarson (Department of Clinical Neuro Science, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden)
Maria Bodin (Department of Clinical Neuro Science, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden)
Birgitta Rubenson (Department of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden)
Karin Guldbrandsson (Department of Clinical Neuro Science, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden)

Health Education

ISSN: 0965-4283

Article publication date: 3 October 2016

408

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how teachers received and perceived the school programme Prevention in School (PS), a positive behavioural support programme; how did the teachers perceive the programme characteristics and themselves as providers; and how did this affect programme implementation?

Design/methodology/approach

Qualitative methods with semi-structured interviews with 13 teachers and thematic content analysis were used.

Findings

The teachers were heterogeneous in their views, with professional identity, programme understanding and experiencing change being important factors for the implementation. Ambiguities regarding the boundaries of the social assignment, opposition against the theoretical underpinnings and an unclear nomenclature in a core component affected the implementation negatively. Among the perceived benefits were instant rewards in the form of aha moments and increased self-awareness. The nature of the implementation barriers indicates that PS is in need of further development.

Practical implications

Compatibility with teachers’ ideologies, clarification of the social assignment and enough time to consider programme adoption are vital when implementing a programme like PS.

Originality/value

The study provides context-specific understanding of teachers’ perceptions of a behavioural support programme and of their role when trying to implement it. It is known that providers’ perceptions affect the implementation and this study contributes to the field of implementation research, with particular respect to the school setting and comprehensive programmes like PS.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

Maria Ingemarson was responsible for the study design and the creation of interview guides, carried out the interviews, coded samples and the whole text, analysed the material and had the main responsibility for writing the paper. Maria Bodin and Karin Guldbrandsson coded samples of the text, participated in consensus discussions and helped draft the manuscript. Birgitta Rubenson contributed with her expertise on qualitative methods and participated in parts of the analysis. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. The authors declare they have no competing interests.

Citation

Ingemarson, M., Bodin, M., Rubenson, B. and Guldbrandsson, K. (2016), "The implementation of a behavioural support programme: Teachers’ perceptions of the programme and themselves as providers", Health Education, Vol. 116 No. 6, pp. 526-540. https://doi.org/10.1108/HE-07-2015-0021

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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