Good practice in school based alcohol education programmes.

Objective: To identify elements of good practice in designing and delivering alcohol education programmes in schools.

Methods: Literature reviews and published programme evaluations were used to identify key elements of good practice.

Results: Principles of good practive are identified and discussed. Five main issues are highlighted: choosing a universal or targetted approach, the need for theoretical frameworks, adopting a stand-alone or multi-component approach; issues of delivery and programme fidelity, and balancing programme fidelity and cultural relevance.

Conclusions: Programme objectives, programme fidelity and cultural context are important factors in designing programmes and will influence outcomes and evaluation of success.

Practice Implications: In developing alcohol education programmes, there is a need to draw on the evidence and experience accrued from previous efforts. Programme development and implementation can draw on results from evaluated programmes to design alcohol education programmes suited to specific contexts, the availability of resources, the perceived needs of the target group and the problem to be addressed.