Translational Issues in Psychological Science, Vol 12(3), Sep 2026, 357-370; doi:10.1037/tps0000516
Culturally grounded substance use prevention programs for Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander youth highlight ecological and historical contexts that traditional interventions overlook. Guided by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research, this study examined implementation facilitators of Ho‘ouna Pono (HP), a culturally grounded school-based drug prevention program, for rural, Native Hawaiian middle school students on Hawaiʻi Island. A 27-item survey based on Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research domains (intervention characteristics, outer setting, inner setting, characteristics of individuals, and process) was developed by Okamoto et al. (2024) from 22 interviews with educational staff from the Hawaiʻi Department of Education. Two hundred and four respondents provided demographic information and ranked their top three HP program facilitators. Findings indicated that intervention characteristics, such as HP’s place-based approach and developmental appropriateness, were the strongest facilitators across all roles and regions. Schools in geographically isolated areas were more likely to endorse intervention-driven facilitators, whereas those in more populated regions were concerned with administrative and district alignment. Teachers were particularly enthusiastic about a flexible curriculum that allowed for autonomy in delivery. These findings highlight the significant implications for guiding the development and implementation of culturally grounded prevention programs. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved)