Fostering protective factors in translational research: Reflections from Mississippi

Health practitioners regularly talk about the risk factors and protective factors that influence a person’s chance of experiencing specific health conditions. We have applied this framework to evaluation practice and, through an analysis of 62 evaluation case scenarios, identified a set of 10 risk factors and 7 protective factors that relate to the likelihood of evaluation ‘success’ and ‘failure.’ In this presentation, we will describe these risk and protective factors and will explore one evaluation center’s efforts to foster the growth of evaluation-related protective factors within one Clinical and Translational Research effort in Mississippi. We will describe our strategies for ensuring there are clearly articulated intended uses for CTR evaluation findings, fostering strong, positive connections, leadership commitment, and access to people and data. We will also share what we have learned about these efforts, what went well, what went wrong, and new ideas for helping to grown protective factors within the CTR evaluation landscape.