Abstract
The cultural adaptation of evidence-based mental health preventive interventions has been widely practiced around the world. In Brazil, studies with this focus are rare. Such process must be systematic in order to achieve, on the one hand, the preservation of the core components of the original intervention and, on the other hand, the cultural sensitivity towards the adopting culture to respect its identity, values and needs. A narrative review on models of cultural adaptation of imported preventive interventions was carried out, including the Planned Intervention Adaptation (PIA) Protocol; Strengthening Families Program Adaptation Model (SFP_Ad); and the ADAPT-ITT, whose steps and characteristics were analyzed. It is concluded that the cultural adaptation of preventive programs in mental health should be based on empirical studies, collaborative practices and ethical sensitivity. Future studies should investigate the cost-effectiveness of investing in the cultural adaptation of international interventions versus the development of local interventions, for which different capacities are required.
Keywords:
Prevention; cultural adaptation; evidence-based practice