The Role of Implementation: Happy Class in The Hague

Abstract

Objective. Happy Class is an online universal depression prevention given in class for students with VMBO education school track in The Hague. This study aimed to understand whether differences in implementation aspects between two Happy Class implementations (HC1 and HC2) influenced the quality of implementation (outcome scores). Method. A pre-test post-test design was used with a sample of 740 Dutch students from four schools in The Hague. HC1 had programme developer involvement, HC2 did not. Online questionnaires which are part of the Happy Class programme were analysed, which allowed us to collect complete data from the real world setting. Responsiveness could only be measured as satisfaction. Results. HC1 students were more satisfied and its sub-clinical depression group decreased significantly in depression. In HC2, the clinical group increased significantly in well-being as the only group in both HC1 and HC2. Implementation differed in gender-ratio, schools, programme staff and dosage, and these factors predicted well-being, depression and satisfaction scores. Conclusion. Factors impacted the implementation quality, but should be further explored. We recommend planning implementation-evaluation beforehand, a randomised controlled trial to assess effectiveness, clarification of the mechanisms of change within Happy Class and its target group, and exploring the role of responsiveness in Happy Class.