Session: The Use of Technology in Improving Access to High Quality Evidence Based Programs (Society for Prevention Research 24th Annual Meeting)

The wide scale dissemination of evidence based programs (EBPs) to community settings is a critical step in achieving public health impact of programs known to reduce risk and promote health and well-being. With onerous manuals, group size requirements, and need for high levels of provider training and supervision, programs designed to be tested in efficacy trials have proven to be too burdensome and expensive for the community agencies providing prevention services for families, especially in low income, minority communities. Consequently the research to practice pipeline has been delayed. The use of new technologies may facilitate these efforts. This symposium was organized to share three studies testing the use of technology in EBPs. The first study examines engagement in Familias Unidas delivered via eHealth, finding that participation was equivalent to or surpassing that in previous trials. Authors further explored predictors of both initial attendance and retention to identify subgroups for whom technology-based programs might be most appropriate. The second study examines participant responsiveness as a mediator of program effects in the Pathways to African American Success (PAAS) trial, a 3-arm study with a technology condition, and in-person group condition, and a literature control. In addition, this study examines predictors of how responsive participants are to the different conditions. The final study uses technology to assess the quality of implementation in a group-based, in person delivery of the New Beginnings Program. Authors put for a set of principles for defining measures of quality for automatization and test these principles using data from human coders. Finally, they select and test computer-based ratings against those of a human coder. This set of papers demonstrate how programs can use technology for efficient delivery and supervision to increase the uptake of EBPs in community settings.