Special Seminar: Translational skills: The Real World, Research Plan, Research Method Interface

SW860, Section 001

Theory-based preventive interventions involve (1) developing a series of smaller scale studies that together constitute an evidence base for theory of change, (2) developing an intervention based on these studies, (3) piloting, refining, and testing the intervention, then bringing it 'to scale'. This course focuses on steps two and three of this process. It asks the question once the theory is in place and the intervention designed (on paper), then what? To take the next steps of implementing and testing a preventive intervention, researchers need to develop a community-researcher interface that is supportive of pilot and development work. This often means gaining entry to settings not familiar to academic researchers where the researcher frequently is seen as "the other." Successful field research intervention studies need to develop a service/evaluation team that is usually interdisciplinary and able to function well in carrying out a new and innovative project, which requires adherence to a program model as well as to a research design that typically involves random assignment. Moreover, moving into the field often requires funding, meaning that writing grant applications to get external funding for preventive intervention research is also a necessity. This class is about the skills needed to translate theory about how to prevent mental health problems or promote well-being into a research protocol that can be funded and tested. Further, the course will address topics in replication and dissemination, as well as questions of how to successfully disseminate so as to change established practices and how much in replication should reflect fidelity to the original model, versus adaptation to local circumstances.