Policymakers, researchers and the public have called for interagency collaboration - service providers' mutual referrals, information sharing, service evaluation and outcome dissemination. Interagency collaboration improves communication between counselors, program workers, educators, and service coordinators, thus improving integration of services and overall cost effectiveness. To advance HIV-prevention practice, we must examine interagency collaboration impact on providers' delivery of CDC's Diffusion of Effective Behavioral Interventions (DEBIs). Cross-sectional research shows negative associations between providers' perceived lack of agency resources and DEBI implementation, but positive associations between interagency collaboration and implementation. Cross-sectional data limit our understanding of temporal associations between these variables. The study of interagency collaboration has been neglected as a strategy to improve DEBI implementation. We propose the first longitudinal, mixed method study to examine the impact of interagency collaboration on providers' delivery of DEBIs. This study is grounded in diffusion of innovations, institutional and behavioral theories. Providers (n=350) recruited from 30 agencies will provide baseline before receiving training and Web-based education about interagency collaboration. A 12-month follow-up will capture immediate changes in providers' intentions to deliver DEBIs, and a 30-month follow-up will capture changes in DEBI implementation. The study will identify predictors of interagency collaboration changes and examine associations between these changes and providers' intentions and the number of DEBIs they implement over time. Qualitative data will be collected after both follow-ups to establish additional barriers to implementation and how providers overcome these barriers. This study has significant public health impact by informing future structural interventions to promote interagency collaboration. Knowing how interagency collaboration influences DEBI implementation, policy makers can intervene across HIV-prevention delivery systems. The knowledge produced by studying DEBI implementation further informs implementation of other evidence-based methods - e.g., HIV rapid testing - shown to slow HIV spread. Improving DEBI implementation will increase the proportion of consumers receiving science-based HIV prevention.

Public Health Relevance

impact by promoting interagency collaboration and delivery of evidence-based HIV prevention services by providers, both of which are needed to help at-risk individuals avoid infection. This research will inform future structural interventions to be used across multiple HIV prevention delivery systems.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
7R01MH095676-05
Application #
9131425
Study Section
Behavioral and Social Science Approaches to Preventing HIV/AIDS Study Section (BSPH)
Program Officer
Gordon, Christopher M
Project Start
2015-09-01
Project End
2017-04-30
Budget Start
2015-09-01
Budget End
2016-04-30
Support Year
5
Fiscal Year
2015
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Michigan Ann Arbor
Department
Type
DUNS #
073133571
City
Ann Arbor
State
MI
Country
United States
Zip Code
48109
Pinto, Rogério M; Witte, Susan S; Wall, Melanie M et al. (2018) Recruiting and retaining service agencies and public health providers in longitudinal studies: Implications for community-engaged implementation research. Method Innov 11:
Pinto, Rogério M; Spector, Anya Y; Witte, Susan S et al. (2018) Training in Evidence-Based Practices Increases Likelihood to Integrate Different HIV Prevention Services with Substance-Using Clients. Soc Work Public Health 33:202-214
Pinto, Rogério M; Witte, Susan S; Filippone, Prema L et al. (2017) Factors That Influence Linkages to HIV Continuum of Care Services: Implications for Multi-Level Interventions. Int J Environ Res Public Health 14:
Pinto, R M; Spector, Anya Y; Rahman, R et al. (2015) Research advisory board members' contributions and expectations in the USA. Health Promot Int 30:328-38
Pinto, Rogério M; Giménez, Silvia; Spector, Anya Y et al. (2015) HIV practitioners in Madrid and New York improving inclusion of underrepresented populations in research. Health Promot Int 30:695-705
Pinto, Rogério M; Wall, Melanie M; Spector, Anya Y (2014) Modeling the Structure of Partnership Between Researchers and Front-Line Service Providers: Strengthening Collaborative Public Health Research. J Mix Methods Res 8:83-106
Pinto, Rogerio M (2013) What makes or breaks provider-researcher collaborations in HIV research? A mixed method analysis of providers' willingness to partner. Health Educ Behav 40:223-30
Pinto, Rogério M; Spector, Anya Y; Yu, Gary et al. (2013) Transdisciplinary collaboration and endorsement of pharmacological and psychosocial evidence-based practices by medical and psychosocial substance abuse treatment providers in the United States. Drugs (Abingdon Engl) 20:408-416
Pinto, Rogerio M; Spector, Anya Y; Valera, Pamela A (2011) Exploring group dynamics for integrating scientific and experiential knowledge in Community Advisory Boards for HIV research. AIDS Care 23:1006-13