Fidelity After SECOND LIFE Facilitator Training in a Sexual Risk Behavior Intervention

Abstract

Background. Intensive facilitator training is a critical component to enable the use of Evidence-Based Interventions (EBIs) by communities. Such training ensures that program’s essential elements are implemented with fidelity. Many EBI training programs require resource- and time-intensive face-to-face training, eliminating participation from some community-based organizations due to significant costs and time away from work. The ¡CUÍDATE! (TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF!) program aimed at improving the sexual health of Latino youth is one such EBI limited in widespread dissemination by its current face to face format. The purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy of training by assessing whether facilitators who attended the virtual ¡CUÍDATE! facilitator training in SECOND LIFE™ implemented the ¡CUÍDATE! curriculum with fidelity (e.g. adherence to the curriculum and competent delivery) to adolescent youth.

Methods. Using a descriptive design, community-based facilitators (n=19) attended virtual SECOND LIFE™ ¡CUÍDATE! training. Post-training facilitators implemented two identical ¡CUÍDATE! sessions with two groups of adolescents and were instructed to audio record the sessions. The research team reviewed a random, stratified subset of the audio files (n=57) using the standardized curriculum as the standard to determine implementation fidelity adherence and fidelity competency.

Results. Fidelity adherence for the ¡CUÍDATE! training for both sessions was high (91.2%) (e.g. the activities were presented as intended). Fidelity competency of facilitators was also high, with the overall quality of the program sessions being 3.95 (SD 1.18, scale 1 to 5). Both fidelity measures (i.e., adherence and competency) improved from implementation of the first to the second session with 100% adherence to the curriculum reported for all facilitators in the second session. Overall quality of the program sessions also improved from the first (x=3.67, SD 1.37) to the second (x=4.43, SD 0.53) session.

Discussion. The efficacy of facilitator training using a virtual platform was shown to result in high levels of implementation fidelity, and thus may be a viable platform for widespread national training. Virtual training provides an avenue for reaching community-based agencies that work with adolescent youth and have limited resources for training expenses. Future studies will explore the use of virtual reality for other types of inter-professional education.