Public Health Practice-Based Research Networks Program Year 2011-12

The purpose of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Public Health Practice-Based Research Networks (PBRN) Program is to expand the volume and quality of evidence on effective public health practice through networks of practitioners and researchers that collaborate to conduct studies in real-world practice settings. A Public Health PBRN brings multiple public health agencies together with research partners to design, implement, translate, and disseminate studies that are both scientifically rigorous and highly relevant to practice and policy decisions. Currently, 12 Primary PBRNs receive core RWJF funding and support through the program, and an additional 13 Affiliate PBRNs participate in program activities without core RWJF funding. The PBRNs supported through this program focus their studies on public health services and systems research (PHSSR), a field of inquiry that identifies how best to organize, finance, and deliver public health strategies and to elucidate the comparative health and economic effects of these strategies. As of August 2011, more than 40 funded PHSSR studies have been initiated or completed through these research networks. To further expand and enhance the work of public health PBRNs, eight key activities are included in the technical assistance and direction (TAD) proposal for the 2011-12 program year, organized under three broad program aims: Aim I: Provide Outreach, Education and Technical Assistance to Support Implementation of PHSSR through PBRNs 1. Maintain the operations of the Public Health PBRN National Coordinating Center (NCC) that provides technical assistance, communication, dissemination, and translation support to primary PBRN networks, affiliate networks, and other stakeholders engaged in conducting practice-based research via PBRNs; 2. Develop new research partners and sources of support for PBRNs at federal, state, and nongovernmental levels that will assure the long-term sustainability and growth of PBRNs nationally, with a particular focus on partnerships with CDC-supported Prevention Research Centers, NIH-supported Clinical and Translational Science Award recipients, and AHRQ-supported primary care PBRNs. Aim II: Develop and Coordinate PHSSR Studies through PBRNs 3. Oversee the selection, development and implementation of short-term, time-sensitive research projects on priority issues in public health practice through the use of Quick Strike Research Funds (QSRFs) granted to public health PBRNs; 4. Coordinate the implementation and translation of PBRN research projects currently underway through the multi-year Research Implementation Awards (RIAs) granted to ten public Health PBRNs in 2010-11; 5. Coordinate the development and implementation of research projects supported through the PBRN Research Acceleration and Expansion (RACE) series of administrative supplements to be awarded competitively to eight public health PBRNs to expand research capacity and methodological advances within their networks; 6. Coordinate the selection, development and implementation of the Multi-network Practices and Outcomes Variation Study (MPROVE) that will support a comparative study of the causes and consequences of public health practice variation through the engagement of multiple PBRNs; Aim III: Translate and Disseminate Evidence from PBRN Research to Policy and Practice Decision-makers 7. Plan and develop a new open-access vehicle for rapid dissemination of early findings from PBRN research and related studies in public health systems and services, tentatively titled Frontiers in Public Health Systems and Services Research. 8. Develop and coordinate research dissemination opportunities for PBRN research, including a special theme issue devoted to PBRN research in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, and development of scientific panel presentations at national scientific and professional meetings. Collectively, these activities will accelerate the production and translation of practice-relevant research that directly informs policy and administrative decision-making during an era of significant public health and health system reform. Each activity is described briefly below.