Question 15

WHAT DO WE MEAN BY "ADAPTATION"?

Suppose you have conducted a community intervention and it is successful. Naturally, you might

think about building upon your success and conducting the intervention elsewhere -- in a context

that could be different culturally, or have an entirely different population.

The basic idea is that interventions are not always one-size-fits-all. When the setting is different,

they may need to be adapted. Fortunately, there are principles of adaptation and guidelines for

making any adaptation successful.

"DIFFERENT CULTURAL TRADITIONS” means?

"Culture" is a big word which covers a lot of ground. A very brief definition is that culture refers

to a set of behaviors, habits, roles, and norms that apply to a particular group. We could also use

the term "traditions" to mean essentially the same thing. Cultural traditions, and cultural

differences, can extend well beyond race and ethnicity. They can be based on age, gender, social

class, religion, region, sexual orientation, employment, family background, or even

neighborhood -- or any combination of these factors.

Possibly the most important reason you might want to adapt your intervention to different

cultures is because your intervention has worked already and you would like it to work again. A

well-adapted intervention can: