Session: New and Novel Approaches to Large Scale Dissemination in Community Based Participatory Research of Prevention Programs and Practices (Society for Prevention Research 22nd Annual Meeting)

Applying knowledge from basic science or bridging the research to practice gap was identified as a major stumbling block several years ago (Wandersman et al., 2008). While progress has been made in certain areas (e.g., addressing the gap between developing or testing interventions and ensuring widespread adoption by using frameworks such as the Interactive Systems Framework for Dissemination and Implementation), other areas remain a challenge today.   

We propose a symposium focused on understanding how to engage community partners in research projects with the goal of developing long-term strategies that can be successfully embedded into existing systems. While a large body of research has incorporated community input through Community Based Participatory Research strategies (e.g., interpreting the results, Minkler & Wallerstein, 2008), our symposium describes less frequently discussed ways of engaging community members in large-scale prevention efforts such as involving community members in designing measurement tools and reporting on leading indicators of violence.

In the first paper, we describe a multistep approach to use publically available crime record data and community monitors to predict future outbreaks of violent crime in one of the highest crime areas in Chicago. This type of approach can assist violence prevention and criminal justice practitioners in more effectively employing prevention resources. A pilot study suggested that people will accurately report on indicators of violence they observe over an extended period of time.

In the second paper, we describe an evaluation of Baltimore’s Safe Streets program, a community based intervention that is a replication of Chicago’s CeaseFire program and involves ex-offenders who do outreach to high-risk youth, mediate disputes, and promote nonviolent social norms.  

In the third paper, we describe a process to involve Alaska Native community members in developing intervention materials and assessments for a youth substance use and suicide prevention approach.  Typical measures of suicide risk and alcohol abuse cannot be administered in these communities for several reasons. This presentation will describe a collaborative approach with local community members in scientifically rigorous development of alternative constructs and culturally adapted measures and lesson learned from this multi-year process.

At the end of the presentations, the discussant will make synthesizing remarks and engage audience members in an interactive discussion.  The approaches we describe are currently being implemented in some of the most high-risk communities in the country and with underserved populations that present unique challenges to conducting research, which we expect to be appealing to SPR meeting participants.