Clinical trial NCT01978054: Disseminating Public Health Evidence to Support State Health Department Prevention of Cancer and Other Chronic Diseases
Official title: Disseminating Evidence-Based Interventions to Control Cancer
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Information Dissemination
Evidence-Based Public Health
Keywords: Information Dissemination
Information Sharing
Innovation Diffusion
Public Health Practice
Evidence-Based Public Health
Chronic Disease Prevention
Cancer Prevention and Control
Lead sponsor: Washington University School of Medicine
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: National Cancer Institute (NCI)
First posted: 2013-11-07
Enrollment: 1703
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 21
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: OTHER

Brief summary: The purpose of this study is to identify and evaluate dissemination strategies to promote the uptake of evidence-based cancer and other chronic disease prevention among state-level public health practitioners. Dissemination strategies such as multi-day in-person training workshops and electronic information exchange modalities are hypothesized to associate with improved access and use of public health evidence and organizational supports for program and policy decision making based on evidence-based public health.

Detailed description: Evidence-based public health approaches to prevent cancer and other chronic diseases have been identified in recent decades and have the potential for high impact. Yet barriers to implement prevention approaches persist as a result of multiple factors including lack of organizational support, limited resources, competing priorities, and limited skill among the public health workforce. The purpose of this study was to learn how best to promote the adoption of evidence based public health practice related to chronic disease prevention. This cluster randomized trial aimed to evaluate the dissemination of public health knowledge about evidence-based prevention of cancer and other chronic diseases and test receptivity and usefulness of dissemination strategies directed toward state health department chronic disease practitioners to enhance capacity and organizational support for evidence-based chronic disease prevention. Twelve state health department chronic disease units were randomly selected and assigned to intervention or control. State health department staff and the university-based study team jointly identified, refined, and selected dissemination strategies. Intervention strategies included multi-day in-person training workshops, remote telephone follow-up and technical assistance, supplemental brief remote trainings, and health department work unit procedural changes to support and strengthen evidence-based decision making. Evaluation methods included pre-post surveys and structured qualitative phone interviews.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* State Health Department chronic disease units (cluster) in the United States and corresponding public health workforce (individuals within cluster)

Exclusion Criteria:

* State health department has received extensive technical assistance and training comparable to our intervention (dissemination activities)
* Origin state has no logical matching pair matched state based on state population size
* Origin state has the lowest excess burden of cancer and other chronic risk and disease
* Origin state health department has lowest or highest capacity for EBDM as determined from previous research

Primary outcomes:
measure: Organizational supports for evidence-based decision making (EBDM)
timeFrame: 18-24 months post baseline
Secondary outcomes:
measure: EBDM competencies
timeFrame: 18-24 months post baseline
measure: Use of research evidence for job tasks
timeFrame: 18-24 months post baseline
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Saint Louis
country: United States
facility: Prevention Research Center in St. Louis, Brown School, Washington University in St. Louis
state: Missouri
Study officials:
affiliation: Washington University School of Medicine
name: Ross C Brownson, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Jacob RR, Baker EA, Allen P, Dodson EA, Duggan K, Fields R, Sequeira S, Brownson RC. Training needs and supports for evidence-based decision making among the public health workforce in the United States. BMC Health Serv Res. 2014 Nov 14;14:564. doi: 10.1186/s12913-014-0564-7.
citation: Allen P, Sequeira S, Jacob RR, Hino AA, Stamatakis KA, Harris JK, Elliott L, Kerner JF, Jones E, Dobbins M, Baker EA, Brownson RC. Promoting state health department evidence-based cancer and chronic disease prevention: a multi-phase dissemination study with a cluster randomized trial component. Implement Sci. 2013 Dec 13;8:141. doi: 10.1186/1748-5908-8-141.