Using community readiness key informant assessments in a randomized group prevention trial: impact of a participatory community-media intervention.

This study examines the role of key informant community readiness assessments in a randomized group trial testing the impact of a participatory community-media intervention (which was also complemented by in-school efforts). These assessments were used to help match communities in random assignment, as a source of formative data about the community, as the basis for a coalition-building workshop, and as an evaluation tool, with a follow-up set of surveys approximately 2 years after the baseline survey. Results of the nested, random effects analysis indicated that the intervention influenced community knowledge of efforts and (at marginally significant levels) improved prevention leadership quality and community climate supportive of prevention efforts. There was evidence that the professional affiliation of informants in some cases had an effect on their assessments, which could be controlled in the analysis. The authors conclude that key informant community readiness assessments can usefully serve to supplement aggregated measures of individual attitudes and behavior (reported elsewhere for this study) in evaluating community-based interventions.