Session: Optimization of Behavioral Interventions: Three Real-World Applications (Society for Prevention Research 26th Annual Meeting)

The multiphase optimization strategy (MOST) is an engineering-inspired framework for building efficacious, effective, cost-effective, and scalable behavioral, biobehavioral, and biomedical interventions. Using the MOST framework, investigators empirically identify an optimized intervention comprised of components that meet a pre-specified optimization criterion using, most commonly, a factorial experiment during what is referred to as an optimization trial. This symposium will showcase three studies at different stages of implementing the MOST framework, all using a factorial experimental design to optimize behavioral interventions to be used across varied populations and settings.

The first presentation will showcase preliminary results from an ongoing optimization trial focused on the development of a cost-effective intervention to improve the engagement in HIV care among people living with HIV. A highlight of this presentation will be the practical use of REDCap as an effective tool for managing a factorial experiment in the field with a hard-to-reach population. The second presentation will present results from a second optimization trial evaluating the effectiveness of five candidate intervention components in an online intervention targeting alcohol use and sexual risk behaviors among college students. A highlight of this presentation will be how an iterative approach to optimization might yield more potent interventions. The third presentation will compare the results from two different smoking cessation optimization trials that used two different optimization criterion (e.g., cost-effectiveness vs. effectiveness). A highlight of this presentation will be the relationship between the selection of an optimization criterion and the uptake of an optimized intervention in healthcare systems.

Collectively, this symposium will demonstrate how MOST is currently being used to optimize behavioral interventions across a diverse set of populations and community settings. With specific attention to the practical implementation of experimentation, iterative approach to optimization, and impact of optimization criterion in the dissemination of an optimized intervention, participants will gain valuable insight into how to implement MOST in their respective fields of study. The discussant for this symposium is a project officer at the National Institute of Health and will provide discussion as to how to get projects like the ones showcased funded.