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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Lenora E. Johnson, MPH, CHES¹, Felicia M. Solomon, MPH², Herb Baum, PhD³, Alexis Williams, MPH², Lisa McCoy, MD, MPH², Jill Bartholomew², Taira Duncan, MPH², and JaMuir Robinson, PhD, MSW, MPH⁴. (1) Office of the Director, Office of Education and Special Initiatives, National Cancer Institute, 6116 Executive Boulevard, Suite 202, Room 2037B, Bethesda, MD 20892, 301-451-4056, johnslen@mail.nih.gov, (2) Office of Education and Special Initiatives, National Cancer Institute, 6116 Executive Blvd., Suite 202, Bethesda, MD 20892-8334, (3) ORC/Macro, Int'l, 11785 Beltsville Drive, Calverton, MD 20705, (4) Division of Cancer Prevention and Office of Education and Special Initiatives, Cancer Prevention Fellow, 6116 Executive Boulevard, Suite 202, Bethesda, MD 20892-8334

Body & Soul is a church-based nutrition education program based upon evidence derived from more than 10 years of research. That research has shown that a significant increase in fruit and vegetable consumption in African Americans can be achieved through church-based programs that are based upon four key pillars: pastoral leadership, educational activities supporting behavior change, a church environment that supports healthy living, and peer counseling. This presentation is not to further discuss this research, but to presents research dissemination efforts and attempts to build a model/system for gaining adoption of Body & Soul in African American churches across the country – in other words, moving beyond the research toward adoption.

A logic model has been developed to support the evaluation of three dissemination approaches. These approaches have been identified as “top down”, “bottom up”, and “sideways spread”. Discussion of the inputs, outputs, and expected outcomes of each approach will be discussed. We will also discuss the challenges of evaluating the transfer of research to practice, the specific inputs that are needed to support the uptake of evidence, the use of the RE-AIM model for dissemination as a framework for dissemination evaluation, and contributions to our understanding of increasing adoption of evidence-based interventions.

As more and more programs are being encouraged to identify and potentially adopt evidence-based approaches and intervention products/tools for use in public health practice, having a better understanding of dissemination will be paramount. The Body & Soul Dissemination Project offers some important ideas and concepts to consider.

Learning Objectives: