In this Methods: Mind the Gap webinar, Dr. Linda Collins discusses why behavioral interventions are important in many areas of public health, for example, smoking cessation, drug abuse prevention, treatment of obesity, management of heart failure symptoms, and promotion of physical activity.
Behavioral interventions are typically developed and evaluated using a treatment package approach, in which the intervention is assembled a priori and evaluated by means of a randomized controlled trial (RCT). Dr. Collins reviews an alternative approach called the Multiphase Optimization Strategy (MOST), an engineering-inspired framework for developing, optimizing, and evaluating behavioral interventions. MOST includes the RCT, as well as other empirical steps aimed at intervention optimization.
Dr. Doug Luke provides a general overview of agent-based modeling (ABM) methods, and then discusses in more detail the utility of these methods for studying the design and implementation of new policies and practices related to chronic diseases, including obesity and tobacco control. The specific advantages of ABMs for dissemination and implementation science are also highlighted.
Dr. Amy Kilbourne introduces the SMART design as well as other adaptive design variations to inform the development of adaptive interventions. Dr. Kilbourne explains the use of the designs in intervention trials, walks through their applicability to implementation studies, discusses differences between adaptive designs and adaptive interventions, and concludes with examples from her work of how adaptive designs have permitted the testing of implementation strategies.
In this Methods: Mind the Gap webinar, Dr. Monica Taljaard explains the unique characteristics of the stepped wedge cluster randomized design and its implications for sample size calculation and analysis, and discusses its strengths and weaknesses compared to traditional designs. Emphasis is on application, with examples in disease prevention and health promotion research.
In this Methods: Mind the Gap webinar, Dr. William Shadish reviews illustrative studies that demonstrate the direction such work is taking and the results that seem to be emerging in regard to nonrandomized control group designs, regression discontinuity designs, and interrupted time series designs.
This Methods: Mind the Gap webinar reviews the design and analysis considerations for assessing the implementation and impact of laws and policies on community, organizational, and individual-level outcomes.
Drs. Lori Ducharme, Hendricks Brown, and Brian Mittman review some of the key concepts discussed at the 6th Annual NIH Meeting on Advancing the Science of Dissemination & Implementation Research: Focus on Study Designs. Central to their discussion are the key issues for study design for implementation science, what works, and opportunities that remain ahead.
They are joined by Drs. Geoffrey Curran, Linda Collins, and Ken Wells in a wide-ranging discussion of common problems encountered by implementation researchers and four examples of study designs and the problems they address.
In this Methods: Mind the Gap webinar, Dr. Walsh presents preventive strategies that integrate clinical data science, informatics, and mental health expertise in an attempt to prevent suicidal thoughts and behaviors. He explains basic concepts in applied predictive modeling relevant to an audience interested in disease prevention. He also shares examples of active research and operational efforts in this domain in civilian and active duty military environments.
The objective of this course is to provide a thorough grounding in the conduct of randomized clinical trials to researchers and health professionals interested in developing competence in the planning, design, and execution of randomized clinical trials involving behavioral interventions.
The curriculum will enable participants to:
- Describe the principles underlying the conduct of unbiased clinical trials
- Identify the unique challenges posed by behavioral randomized clinical trials (RCTs)
- Evaluate RCT designs in terms of their appropriateness to scientific and clinical goals
- Select appropriate strategies for enrollment, randomization, and retention of participants
- Understand methods for monitoring, coordinating, and conducting RCTs
- Develop strategies for appropriate statistical analyses of RCT data
- Evaluate the quality of behavioral RCTs and interpret their results
- Design an RCT as part of a working group on a specific topic.
Dr. Sterman discusses systems approaches in public health, including the concepts of policy resistance, implementation feedbacks, and model boundaries and explores how these ideas can be applied to effect change in a complex system. He includes examples from healthcare and public health such as implementation of formulary drug lists and SARS epidemic modeling.
Dr. McLeroy discusses adoption of systems methodology, including multiple levels of analysis, utility for identifying points of change, testing models against reality, and applications to program evaluation and various research designs, including community-based participatory research and randomized clinical trials.
In this Methods: Mind the Gap webinar, Dr. Kay Dickersin reviews models of how systematic reviews are being used globally to plan, implement, and derive recommendations from comparative effectiveness research (CER). She also reviews some of the existing challenges to using systematic reviews and methods being used to address these challenges.
The National Cancer Institute is hosting this training institute to provide participants with a thorough grounding in conducting D&I research with a specific focus on cancer, across the cancer control continuum. In 2020, the institute will use a combination of online coursework (six modules with related assignments) and a 2-day in-person training to be held August 3 and 4, 2020, at the NCI campus in Bethesda, MD. Faculty and guest lecturers consist of leading experts in D&I theories, models, and frameworks; intervention fidelity and adaptation; stakeholder engagement and partnership for D&I; research methods and study designs for D&I; and measures and outcomes for D&I. This training institute has been adapted from the broader Training Institute for Dissemination and Implementation Research in Health (TIDIRH), organized by NIH and the VA over the past nine years.
This training is designed for investigators at any career stage interested in conducting D&I research with a focus on the cancer control continuum. There is no cost associated with the training. Invited participants are required to cover related travel expenses to the Washington D.C. area for the in-person meeting. More answers to common questions can be found on the site FAQ.
Dr. Laura Damschroder’s webinar introduces Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) and its application in a series of studies highlighting its use to guide data collection, analyses, and its potential for syntheses; and to guide tailoring of implementation strategies.
Dr. Greg Aarons’ webinar introduces the Exploration, Preparation, Implementation, Sustainment (EPIS) framework and its application in a series of studies highlighting its use to guide data collection, analyses, and its potential for syntheses; and to guide tailoring of implementation strategies.
Dr. Abe Wandersman’s webinar continued a series of presentations and discussions about the development and application of frequently-used implementation research models and frameworks. Dr. Wandersman, key developer of the Interactive Systems Framework (ISF), discusses the genesis of the framework, key terms and concepts, and then presents projects that have used the ISF as a core lens to support planning and study of evidence-based practice implementation.
Dr. Sharon Straus, one of the primary authors of the Knowledge to Action Framework (KTA), discusses the genesis of the framework, key stages within the cycle, challenges to knowledge translation, and then presents examples of how the KTA framework has been used within a range of projects. Dr. Straus’ presentation also concentrates on the specific challenge of studying sustainability, and reflects on the degree to which the framework can extend beyond research into clinical practice use.
In this Methods: Mind the Gap presentation, Dr. Klasnja describes how micro-randomized trials can be used to make data-driven decisions about how exactly individual components of mHealth interventions should work to optimize their effectiveness. He argues that a key value of micro-randomized trials during intervention development is their ability to generate data for informing decisions about the many specifics—from the design of the interface to the adaptation algorithms—that must be determined to implement an mHealth intervention. Data from micro-randomized trials enable such decisions to be made in ways that maximize intervention effectiveness while minimizing user burden.
In this Methods: Mind the Gap webinar, Dr. Siobhan Phillips provides an overview of how digital health tools can be used to better understand and optimize physical activity promotion interventions.
Implementation science methodologies, approaches, and tools have a great interdisciplinary applicability. Dr. Alice Ammerman’s webinar discusses what new (and "new to") D&I investigators need to know to succeed in this burgeoning field.