ABSTRACT
Many school-based alcohol and drug education programmes have not been tested using optimal research designs such as randomised control trials (RCT). High-quality research is needed in order to design evidence-based alcohol education programmes that can achieve desirable outcomes for local communities and schools. Researchers increasingly strive to adhere to quality standards when planning, conducting, and reporting alcohol education trials in school settings. However, adhering to the highest possible standard is difficult in reality, and many factors limit success. The involvement of stakeholders from school settings, namely school principals, executive assistants, teachers, and students, plays a crucial role impacting on both the implementation of the programme as well as on the quality of the research for measuring programme effects. In this study, we outline our experiences with stakeholder involvement drawing from two case studies and three cluster-randomised controlled trials conducted in Australia and Denmark. The chapter aims to (1) summarise challenges regarding stakeholder involvement for conducting RCTs in schools, (2) analyse challenges in stakeholder involvement when using social marketing approaches in alcohol prevention programmes, and (3) derive recommendations for stakeholder involvement in research practice that can deliver positive outcomes for all parties involved.
