Disseminating research findings to multiple audiences

Research promotes the discovery of new ideas, interventions and findings. However, those promising innovations are not often disseminated to the practitioners, researchers or communities who could benefit from the use of these evidence-based findings. This gap between research findings and dissemination to the real world is assumed to be beyond the scope of how we currently define research, and is oftentimes overlooked.

This presentation will summarize how the NIAAA-funded Study to Prevent Alcohol-Related Consequences (SPARC) is addressing this gap by discussing plans for its dissemination to various target audiences, including researchers, college administrators, policy makers, parents and the general public. In addition, lessons learned during the implementation and evaluation of the project will be discussed, including being realistic about the time required for environmental changes, balancing the needs of the research team with the needs of the campus and community, working efficiently within the various systems of 10 different campuses, and establishing feedback loops between the research team and the campuses. Additional discussion will focus on next steps of SPARC.