Step 4 Assess How Well Each Candidate SAPA Fits and Eliminate from Consideration Any with Poor Fit

GTO Step 4 helps determine whether the candidate SAPA you identified during GTO Step 3 are appropriate for your target population, site, and community.

Why

  • Increase the chances that a SAPA you choose will be accepted by and will be good for the target population.
  • Avoid finding out later that the prevention activity failed because it was a mismatch (a poor fit) with your target population, your community, or your site.
  • Select among several candidates to choose the one with the best fit.

How

  • Discuss with your team, and perhaps other stakeholders, how a candidate SAPA fits with the needs, the demographic characteristics, and other related aspects of your target population

    • cultural norms and values of your community and its environment
    • mission, core values, and culture of your site and its priorities and leadership support for sexual assault prevention, as well as your setting and other SAPA in place
    • culture of the military or the particular military service, including relevance, cultural sensitivity, and social infrastructure.
  • The longer GTO guide has a tool—Fit Assessment tool—that could help you complete this step. You can download a .zip file that contains all of the tools.

Key Points

  • An evidence-based SAPA will only get outcomes if it is delivered as intended.
  • Sometimes an activity needs to be adapted to make it a better fit. You can make minor adaptations, such as updating statistics or using your own words.
  • Some adaptations should never be made to a SAPA, such as leaving out practice time and other key elements of the SAPA or shortening it overall, because they will dilute its effectiveness.
  • If the only way to make a SAPA fit is to make drastic changes, do not use it.
  • GTO Step 4 aligns with "develop a comprehensive approach" in the PPOA prevention process.

Update SAPA Overview

If you have eliminated SAPA from consideration, make sure that the SAPA Overview Worksheet (.docx) shows only your remaining candidate SAPA in column 4.

Linking GTO Steps

  • Consider also, in GTO Step 5, whether you have the capacity or resources to implement the SAPA well. If you have no viable candidates after completing Step 5, revisit Step 3 to identify new candidates for fit and capacity assessment. Your final selection should be what you use in your Step 6 implementation work plan.

GTO Step 4 Resources

Handbook Overview

Up Next

Step 5: Assess Your Capacity to Implement Remaining Candidate SAPA as Intended SAPA as Intended