Dissemination & Implementation Curriculum and Competencies

Our training program is innovative on several levels. While the program is the first of its kind to focus on training for D&I research in cancer prevention and control, we are also working to develop and refine a set of core D&I competencies and a model curriculum specific to D&I research on cancer disparities, neither of which currently exist. Importantly, we are developing competencies for D&I research in cancer not only based on formative input from researchers but also from cancer control practitioners who are addressing disparities. While our training program focuses on D&I research in cancer, our methods and approaches are applicable to numerous other public health issues. For more analysis and conclusions based on the given topic, EssayWritingStore.com is always open for researchers, students and those fascinated by the subject of the program.

The first Aim of this program is to “Develop and refine a set of competencies and model curriculum in D&I research, including those specific to D&I research on cancer disparities”. Competency-based education is rapidly becoming a norm in all levels of education in the United States. Formally, a competency is defined as a cluster of related knowledge, attitudes, and skills that affects the major part of one’s job and can be measured against well-accepted standards and improved through training. Competency sets are used both to guide credentialing processes, and for this program, curriculum development.

In the Spring of 2014, we started to outline a list of competencies that has been used in building the curriculum and agenda of our Summer Institutes. We employed an online card-sort to engage the expertise and opinions of current leaders in D&I research to help sort these competencies into learning levels and categorical domains. The results of that card-sort can be found below. A paper was published on this work at Implementation Science on August 12th 2015. A downloadable PDF of the paper can be accessed from the link below:

Padek_2015_Developing educational competenices for disseminaiton and implementation reserach training programs

Information about this Card-sort process was also presented at the 7th Annual Conference on the Science of Dissemination and Implementation: Transforming Health Systems to Optimize Individual and Population Health. You can find a link to the slides for this presentation below.

http://www.academyhealth.org/files/2014/Padek_presentation.pdf

In the Spring of 2015, additional work was started to fill in the gaps in D&I training programs that the previous competency list does not address. Results of that project were presented in a poster at the 8th Annual Conference on the Science of Dissemination and Implementation. The abstract can be found here:

http://implementationscience.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13012-016-0452-0

D&I Competencies by Domain

*Expertise levels: B = Beginner; I = Intermediate; A = Advanced.

Number	Competency	Expertise*
	Section A: Definitions, Background and Rational
A1	Define and communicate D&I research terminology.	B
A2	Define what is and what is not D&I research.	B
A3	Differentiate between D&I research and other related areas, such as efficacy research and effectiveness research.	B
A4	Identify the potential impact of disseminating, implementing and sustaining effective interventions.	B
A5	Describe the range of expertise needed to conduct D&I research (e.g., mixed method experience, economic, organizational, policy, clinical).	B
A6	Determine which evidence-based interventions are worth disseminating and implementing.	I
A7	Assess, describe, and quantify (where possible) the context for effective D&I (setting characteristics, culture, capacity & readiness).	I
A8	Identify existing gaps in D&I research.	I
A9	Identify the potential impact of scaling down (aka de-implementing) an ineffective but often used intervention.	I
A10	Formulate methods to address barriers of D&I research.	I

 

Number	Competency	Expertise*
	Section B: Theory and Approaches
B1	Describe a range of D&I strategies, models and frameworks.	B
B2	Identify appropriate conceptual models, frameworks, or program logic for D&I change.	I
B3	Identify core elements (effective ingredients) of effective interventions and recognize the risks of making modifications to these.	I
B4	Describe a process for designing and dissemination (planning for adoption, implementation, and sustainability during the intervention development stage).	I
B5	Describe the relationships between various organizational dimensions (e.g., climate, culture) and D&I research.	I
B6	Explain how knowledge from discipline outside health (e.g. business, marketing, and engineering) can help inform further trans-disciplinary efforts in D&I research.	I
B7	Identify and articulate the interplay between policy and organizational processes in D&I.	I

 

Number	Competency	Expertise*
	Section C: Design & Analysis
C1	Describe the core components of external validity and their relevance to D&I research.	B
C2	Identify common D&I measures & analytic strategies relevant for your research questions(s).	B
C3	Identify and measure outcomes that matter to stakeholders, adopters and implementors.	I
C4	Describe the applications and integration of mixed-methods (quantitative and qualitative) approaches in D&I research.	I
C5	Apply common D&I measures & analytic strategies relevant for your research question(s) within your model/framework.	I
C6	Identify possible methods to address external validity in study design reporting and implementation.	I
C7	List the potential roles of mediators and moderators in a D&I study.	I
C8	Identify and articulate the trade-offs between a variety of different study designs for D&I research.	I
C9	Describe how to frame and analyze the context of D&I as a complex system with interacting parts.	I
C10	Effectively integrate the concepts of sustainability/sustainment and the rationale behind them in D&I study design.	I
C11	Describe gaps in D&I measurement and critically evaluate how to fill them.	I
C12	Effectively explain and incorporate concepts of de-adoption and de-implementation into D&I study design.	I
C13	Incorporate methods of economic evaluation (e.g., implementation costs, cost-effectiveness) in D&I study design.	I
C14	Evaluate and refine innovative scale-up and spread methods (e.g., technical assistance, interactive systems, novel incentives and ‘pull’ strategies).	I

 

 

Number	Competency	Expertise*
	Section D: Practice-Based Consideration
D1	Describe the importance of incorporating the perspectives of different stakeholder groups (e.g., patient/family; employers, payers, healthcare settings, public organizations, community and policy makers).	B
D2	Describe the concept and measurement of fidelity.	B
D3	Articulate the strengths and weaknesses of participatory research in D&I research.	B
D4	Determine when engagement in participatory research is appropriate with D&I research.	I
D5	Describe the appropriate process for eliciting input from community-based practitioners for adapting an intervention.	I
D6	Identify and apply techniques for stakeholder analysis and engagement when implementing evidence-based practices.	I
D7	Identify a process for adapting an intervention and how the process is relevant to D&I research.	I
D8	Explain how to maintain fidelity of original interventions during the adaption process.	I
D9	Identify sites to participate in D&I studies and negotiate or provide incentives to secure their involvement.	I
D10	Identify and develop sustainable partnerships for D&I research.	I
D11	Describe how to measure successful partnerships for D&I research.	I
D12	Use evidence to evaluate and adapt D&I strategies for specific populations, settings, contexts, resources and/or capacities.	A