The goal of this project is to translate and implement an evidence-based strategy for a racial and ethnic minority community, defined as African American in St. Louis, MO, and assess the factors that hinder or facilitate the translation (i.e. adoption, adaptation and implementation) of these strategies. The proposed project aims to expand an existing inter-disciplinary partnership and work with this partnership to translate and implement evidence-based strategies adapted for the St. Louis context and population. The Community Action Plan for this project will include four steps: 1) identifying relevant stakeholders and partners and expanding the current partnership, 2) providing technical assistance workshops based on the needs of the partnership, 3) sharing assessment data on disparities in physical activity behavior and in access to physical activity opportunities and 4) adopting and implementing evidence-based strategies adapted for the St. Louis context and population. A comprehensive evaluation will be conducted several times throughout the project to assess the intra- and inter-organizational characteristics and the partnerships' capacity to work together and to identify strengths and challenges in the process of adapting and implementing the strategies. The evaluation will estimate and report the potential translatability and public health impact of the implemented strategies by measuring a variety of translation determinants (e.g. feasibility, fidelity, adaptability, economic cost, cultural context). As part of the summative evaluation, the project team will monitor community environments and residents' behaviors before and after specific strategies are implemented to document whether the implemented strategy increased physical activity behavior. Data from the qualitative and quantitative assessments will be triangulated and compared to existing theories of dissemination, adoption, adaptation and implementation of evidence-based interventions. An in-depth case study approach will be used to disseminate the lessons learned to other communities and practitioners.
Project Relevance The environment in which we live has a major impact on individual health. The proposed of this project is to use a partnership approach to creating changes in the environment that support physical activity. These changes may include creating new parks or walking trails, improving sidewalks or changing streets to be more pedestrian friendly.
| Harris, Jenine K; Roche, Jason; Estlund, Amy K et al. (2014) Partnering to create a more livable city: the Livable St Louis Network. J Public Health Manag Pract 20:384-91 |
