186 - Evaluating research dissemination to uncover compelling translation stories: What more do we need to tell the story behind our data?

Abstract Information: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) funds university-based Prevention Research Centers (PRCs) to support communities with putting science into practice. PRCs and their partners develop translation products to enable public health practitioners to adopt, implement, or scale up evidence-based interventions. One key evaluation question is to what extent intended audiences are using or adopting PRCs’ translation products. To answer this question, CDC collects monitoring and evaluation data from PRCs on their dissemination strategies. From these data, CDC can understand aspects of PRCs’ dissemination efforts, such as partner and community engagement in research and practice tool development and dissemination, strategies to reach intended audiences, and evidence of adoption and use. During this roundtable, we will pose targeted questions to discuss how to form a deeper understanding of effective dissemination strategies that contribute to translating science into practice, and how to utilize storytelling to highlight translation successes in communities.

Relevance Statement: The Prevention Research Centers (PRC) Program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is a network of 26 university-based centers that conduct community-engaged research. CDC has funded PRCs around the country for over 30 years to study evidence-based strategies for preventing chronic diseases in underserved communities. A hallmark of the PRC Program since its inception has been on translation of research into public health practice. CDC evaluates various aspects of the PRCs’ efforts to research, translate, and disseminate their findings to community, academic, and practice audiences. Evaluating research dissemination enables us to understand how PRCs are reaching their intended audiences through use and adoption of their translation products. The PRC Program defines translation products as any tool, resource, material, or other outputs, including research and practice tools, that are developed with the primary purpose of enabling public health practitioners to adopt, implement, or scale-up evidence-based interventions. The monitoring and evaluation data we collect from the PRCs enable us to understand some key aspects of their research dissemination efforts, including how they are engaging partners and community members in developing and disseminating their translation products to reach intended audiences. Understanding how our recipients are disseminating their translational research lends itself to uncovering compelling translation stories—for example, innovative ways of sharing PRC research findings with communities, and how they have used PRCs’ translation products to impact their community’s health. One line of questioning to discuss is how we can move the narrative of our evaluation forward by going beyond our monitoring and evaluation data to share stories that illuminate the benefits that people and communities have derived from PRCs’ research. Storytelling may be used as a dissemination strategy, or as a way of sharing the impacts of translational research on communities.