185987 Formative evluation and innovative partnership inform a community-based injury prevention intervention trial

Monday, October 27, 2008

Eileen M. McDonald, MS , Health, Behavior & Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD
Wendy C. Shields, MPH , Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD
Shannon Frattaroli, PhD, MPH , Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD
Bernard J. Canniffe , Co Chair, Graphic Design, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD
Barbara Bates-Hopkins , Environmental Justice Partnership, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD
Glenn Ross , Environmental Justice Partnership, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD
Andrea C. Gielen, ScD, ScM , Health, Behavior & Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD
Background/Purpose: Formative evaluation is critical to developing engaging and effective health promotion programs, but many programs struggle to secure the resources needed to support this process. An innovative partnership among a public health school, an art institute, and several local organizations is using formative and qualitative strategies to inform a community intervention trial of fire prevention services.

Methods: Two rounds of focus groups will be held in April 2008 with approximately 20 East Baltimore residents to solicit information about: their exposure to a smoke alarm promotion program, barriers and facilitators to participation, and ideas for improving it. Public health professionals designed the focus group protocol which will be used by the local organizations to conduct the focus groups. Graphic design students will observe to learn about residents' perspectives which will inform development of prototype communication materials for the intervention. Local organization partners will conduct “rapid assessments” of a random sample of residents' reactions to the materials; results will be used by graphic design students to produce final communication materials. Finally, a public health practitioner will conduct qualitative interviews with all partners to better understand their partnership involvement.

Results/Outcomes: Through this process we will identify elements of effective partnerships. Focus group data will inform the prototype communication materials produced by graphic design students and “rapid assessment” findings will inform revisions and final communication products. We will also describe how focus group results informed our intervention.

Conclusions: Innovative partnerships and formative strategies enhance the development of a community intervention trial.

Learning Objectives:
1. Describe the benefits and challenges of unique public health partnership (including graphic design students, environmental justice group, fire and public health professionals) working collaboratively on a public health community-based program. 2) Describe the use of formative and qualitative evaluation methods and how they contributed to the development of both communication materials and the overall intervention.

Keywords: Public/Private Partnerships, Injury Prevention

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a co-investigator on this work and have served in such capacity in at least a six similar research trials. I have also been a frequent presenter at APHA.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

See more of: Discussion: Community Based Participatory Research
See more of: Public Health Education and Health Promotion