Abstract:

Adverse parameters of Romany health and lifestyle and the related health and social-pathological problems in Romany children (pupils) from a socially disadvantaged environment have been the objective of empirical research. One of the central problems concerns the early consumption of addictive substances. Apart from the integration of preventive programs into the education process, a crucial issue is their careful evaluation for an adequate assessment of achieving the objectives in relation to the target group of pupils. The paper presents a model evaluating the effectiveness of a health-preventive intervention program as an education strategy addressing substance abuse issues in Romany pupils with a mild intellectual disability. It discusses the formative program evaluation results reflecting selected dimensions of the fidelity as part of a qualitative evaluation of health-preventive education intervention. The results are relevant for the reliability and validity of an experimental research intervention.

Keywords:

Fidelity, Formative evaluation, School prevention, socially disadvantaged environment, Mild intellectual disability.