Bridging the Gap Between Public Health Research and Practice

This 38-page publication contains four United States (US)-based case studies illustrating issues faced in
trying to bridge the gap between what is known about ideal or effective
health interventions and actual intervention practice. The authors note that the problem of uptake of innovations frequently has to do with miscommunication between the parties involved, and these case studies provide examples of how different organisations and stakeholders have worked together to help bridge the research-to-practice gap. The collection attempts
to help answer the question: "How do we shape public health research into a
usable form, translating numbers and theories
into adaptable, effective models of social
change?"

The four case studies included are:

• Media-Smart Youth (MSY): Involving Practitioners to Design Successful
  Innovations. This case study describes the programme Media-Smart
  Youth: Eat, Think, and Be Active! which teaches media awareness and
  production; nutrition; and physical activity in after-school environments.
  The programme engaged practitioners in the field in both design and
  implementation in order to avoid problems that may result in translation
  from research to practice.  Select non-profit organisations also were
  seen as likely early adopters, and were included to increase the probability
  of diffusion of the programme's ideas and procedures.
  
• Heads Up: Brain Injury in Your Practice: Communication Strategies for Effective
  Design and Dissemination. This case study discuses the informational
  toolkit for physicians Heads Up: Brain Injury in Your Practice. This
  toolkit aims to raise physician awareness, provide tools for use in practice
  settings, and increase knowledge about traumatic brain injury (TBI), or concussion. To create effective materials, the Academy for Educational Development (AED) first worked with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to determine appropriate audiences and
  potential format and delivery options.  This was followed by focus
  groups with providers to refine the approach, and finally pre-testing of the
  materials with physicians around the country.
  
• SchoolFood Plus: Partnerships in Action. This case study
  describes an effort of the New York City Department of Education’s Office
  of School Food and Nutrition Services (OSFNS) to " serve more children
  better-quality food at a lower cost." The programme attempted to
  integrate four major stakeholder organisations in the programme planning
  process, but found that the partners did not successfully find common
  ground, delineate roles, or agree on short term priorities. AED then
  "recommended the development of an overall logic model to help SFP [SchoolFood
  Plus] define specific short-term activities that could be linked to
  overall objectives for the life of the project." Common ground was soon
  found adopting this new approach.
  
• Racial and Ethnic Adult Disparities Immunization Initiative (READII):
  Funding and Technical Assistance to Build Infrastructure. This case
  study describes an effort to improve influenza and pneumococcal vaccination
  rates for African Americans and Hispanics age 65 and older. Existing
  literature pointed to approaches likely to be successful, but without
  existing adult immunisation programmes the project faced infrastructure and
  funding challenges. The programme found that providing relatively small increments of funding and technical assistance enabled five
  localities "to begin building partnerships, improving staffing,
  increasing technical skills, and creating administrative structures to
  improve adult vaccination among older Hispanics and African Americans."

Click here to access a related peer-reviewed summary on the Health e Communication website, and to participate in peer review.