National Institutes of Health Pathways to Prevention Program: Weighing the Evidence, Identifying the Research Gaps, and Disseminating to the Prevention Research Community

ABSTRACT BODY:

Introduction: Developing informed, comprehensive approaches to disease prevention has many challenges, including conflicting evidence and research gaps. The Pathways to Prevention (P2P) program, sponsored by the NIH Office of Disease Prevention, convenes workshops that help build consensus on a research topic, shape future research agendas, and disseminate action plans for researchers and federal agencies. This process addresses needs identified in the Knowledge Translation for Research Utilization Framework¹.

 

Methods: The P2P program identifies research needs for a selected topic through an evidence review, a comprehensive workshop featuring diverse expert perspectives, and an unbiased analysis by a panel of scientists external to the field. A federal partners’ meeting is convened after the workshop to discuss federal agency actions based on panel recommendations. Identified needs and recommendations are disseminated through published reports: a Systematic Evidence Review, the Workshop Panel’s final report, and Federal Partners Meeting report, and other digital communication tools.

 

Results: To date, five P2P workshops have been conducted, addressing Youth Suicide (2016), Total Worker Health® (2015), Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (2014), Opioids and Chronic Pain (2014), and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (2012). Workshop findings and recommendations have served as a catalyst to advance these fields. For example, published reports from the P2P workshop on opioids collectively yielded 177 citations and 379 second generation citations (July 2016), and the federal action plan was used by the NIH Pain Consortium to create a new research program addressing the complex challenges of effectively treating chronic pain.

Conclusions: These findings have significant implications for disseminating current knowledge in important prevention topics and addressing critical research gaps. The P2P program addresses barriers within the Knowledge Translation for Research Utilization Framework¹, especially within the knowledge creation, knowledge transfer, and research utilization phases. Broader application of the program’s evidence-based process can facilitate research and policy development.

1. Majdzadeh R, Sadighi J, Nejat S, Mahani AS, Gholami J. Knowledge translation for research utilization: design of a knowledge translation model at Tehran University of Medical Sciences. J Contin Educ Health Prof 2008;28(4):270–7.