LI Course
CE Hours: 6 contact hours

Partnership: • APHA Public Health Education and Health Promotion Section – Katherine Wilson (kw1@cdc.gov ), Cam Escoffery (cescoff@emory.edu ) • APHA Cancer Forum – Sona Thakkar (thakkars@mail.nih.gov ) • National Cancer Institute – Russ Glasgow (glasgowre@mail.nih.gov ) • Centers for Disease Prevention and Control – Mary White (mxw5@cdc.gov ), Katherine Wilson (kw1@cdc.gov), Marcus Plescia (ifs1@cdc.gov ) • Cancer Prevention and Control Research Network – Kurt Ribisl (kribisl@email.unc.edu) • Prevention Research Centers - Vicki Benard (vb9@cdc.gov ) • Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE) – Cam Escoffery (cescoff@emory.edu )

Statement of Purpose and Institute Overview: The purpose of this interactive Learning Institute is to provide public health practitioners with the skills and knowledge to use public health data and resources to identify, select, adopt and/or adapt evidence-based programs, strategies and policies for chronic disease prevention. Evidence-based approaches have been proven effective by research but remain underutilized in practice. Commonly cited challenges include lack of time to gather evidence, lack of skilled personnel or technical assistance, limited access to data and evidence-based resources, and differential perspectives of what constitutes as evidence. Furthermore, guidance to balance intervention fidelity and adaptation needed to “fit” the context of real-world implementation settings are rarely provided by program developers. It is critical to enhance public health practitioners’ capacity to apply evidence when implementing programs or policies in their local communities. Training practitioners how to use evidence is one of the Translation Supporting Structures of the Knowledge to Action Framework1 that enhances the capacity of organizations to effectively plan and implement interventions. This interactive workshop will offer an overview, resources, and tools for public health practitioners to find, select, adopt or adapt, and evaluate evidence-based strategies for chronic disease prevention. The workshop defines evidence and the benefits of using evidence-based strategies. It covers data tools for community assessment through Cancer Control P.L.A.N.E.T., reliable sources of evidence-based strategies such as the Community Guide, policies and programs, and evaluation methods. It will present implementation phases and key tasks in each phase that contribute to successful adoption of evidence-based approaches (EBAs). We will also discuss criteria for selecting strategies that fit a community, and define implementation fidelity, steps in program adaptation, and what can be changed in an evidence-based intervention while maintaining program fidelity. Finally, we describe how to develop evaluation questions based on the RE-AIM framework and methods to evaluate the use of EBAs. The workshop will incorporate case studies, group work and worksheets to apply concepts on use of evidence. The content of the Learning Institute will be presented by experts in the area of research dissemination and implementation to address this gap between research and practice and increase the use of EBAs to ultimately improve chronic disease prevention efforts. Faculty expertise consists of management staff from the National Cancer Institute and academic researchers from the Cancer Prevention and Control Research Network (CPCRN) Capacity Building Workgroup, whom have provided many similar training sessions on using EBAs in various settings.

Session Objectives: Describe evidence, types of evidence, and resources to find evidence-based approaches Assess fit and fidelity of intervention program components and the extent to which such components may be adapted when using evidence-based approaches Formulate evaluation questions based on community assessment to appropriately evaluate program implementation and outcomes of an evidence-based approach