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Testing Strategies to Improve Substance Misuse Prevention Research Use in State Policy Contexts
Sponsor: Penn State University
Summary
If science is to inform effective substance misuse prevention policy and ultimately improve public health, the field needs an effective strategy for directly supporting policymakers' use of research evidence, yet our field lacks an evidence-based model designed for this purpose. Accordingly, a state-level randomized controlled trial (N = 30 states) of a formal, theory-based approach for appropriately supporting policymakers' use of scientific evidence--known as the Research-to-Policy Collaboration (RPC) Model is proposed. This work has the potential to reduce population-level substance misuse by improving the use of scientific information in policymaking, thus increasing the availability of evidence-based prevention programs and policies.
Official title: Building the Science of Evidence-Informed Prevention Policy: a Multi-level Model for Supporting Substance Misuse Prevention
Key Details
Gender
All
Age Range
Any - Any
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Enrollment
300
Start Date
2023-04-01
Completion Date
2027-03-31
Last Updated
2025-03-06
Healthy Volunteers
Yes
Interventions
Intervention: RPC Group
The RPC model entails seven interrelated steps including a capacity building and collaboration phase. Throughout the implementation, researchers are provided direct access to intermediary support from our trained RPC fellows who facilitate RPC activity at each step coordinated by an implementation supervisor. Importantly, this model does not involve any lobbying. Consistent with NIH guidelines for grantees, the RPC instead aims to "highlight and translate public health evidence…; conduct coalition building…; provide leadership and training, and foster safe and healthful environments". Specifically, implementation of the RPC model explicitly does not attempt to influence legislative actions, but instead facilitates honest brokerage in which researchers discuss evidence without indicating opinion or stance on how legislators should change specific policies, programs, or regulations.
Active Comparator: Control Group
Control group participants will receive "light touch" research support, similar to previous work (e.g., an RPC associate will send publicly available research materials in response to research requests). This light touch control condition will increase responsiveness of state officials to survey follow up requests.
Locations (1)
Penn State University
University Park, Pennsylvania, United States