ABSTRACT
Building an evidence-informed prevention program that later transfers to dissemination is easier said than done; especially in workplace settings, many of which have significant barriers to adopting prevention programs and do not offer evidence-based wellness programs. By way of a case example of an original program called Team Awareness, this chapter describes an integral and process-oriented framework that guided the authors’ work in building and disseminating a substance misuse prevention strategy for the workplace. While the focus was on alcohol and drugs, findings show that Team Awareness supports a broader approach to mentally healthy work cultures. Starting from initial findings and gaps in research, to meeting the needs of employers, and to the creation of a sustainable program, the authors describe the methodological and theoretical recipe that led to the success of program dissemination. The authors emphasize that a balance between fidelity, adaptation, and capacity building are some of the primary reasons that Team Awareness has been used by diverse organizations, including non-profit, for-profit, community-based, and public workplace entities in the United States and abroad.
