Developing Researcher-Community-Policy Partnerships in Public Health Settings

Introduction: The American Institutes for Research is providing training and technical assistance (TTA) and evaluating a five year initiative, funded by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), designed to develop research-practice-policy partnerships led by local health departments (LHDs). Twelve LHDs from high risk communities have been selected to receive TTA to develop their organizational capacity and the capacity of their community partners to develop community plans and implement youth violence (YV) prevention strategies. Outcomes for the initiative include increased visibility of YV as a public health approach, the formation of a multisector community coalition (that includes policy makers and researchers), and implementation of evidence-based strategies intended to prevent YV.

Methods: A mixed methods evaluation approach is being used to evaluate the TTA that is being provided, progress of the sites in achieving their short and long term outcomes, and (for a subset of sites) reductions in behavioral health outcomes related to implementation of selected strategies. Data sources involve the evaluation of learning events, qualitative group interviews, quantitative surveys, and analysis of extant risk and protective factor and youth violence data. Information from these sources is reported back to the sites and CDC in continuous feedback loops designed to inform future TTA that is provided.

Results: Year 3 findings suggest that sites (in general) report having developed collaborative, trusting relationships with AIR TTA members and that the majority of the learning objectives for in-person meetings and online learning events were met. Evidence suggests that several short-term outcomes have been accomplished including (1) expanding coalition membership to include new partnerships (particularly with community-based partners doing similar work, nearby university partners, and local government), (2) making progress towards selecting and implementing YVP programs based on the best available evidence, (3) reviewing strategic plans to more fully incorporate the public health approach, and (4) identifying additional resources for YVP.

Conclusions: Helping LHDs and community partners use research evidence to develop and implement community-wide plans to address youth violence requires developing long-term trusting relationships with key stakeholders and being effective at translating research evidence for various audiences in ways that make the research useful and valued. Few evaluations have assessed how TTA can support LHDs and their partners in doing this type of work. This evaluation suggests a range of approaches and types of supports that can help sites make progress in using research evidence for YVP decision-making at the local level.