Disseminating Resources for Researchers to Improve the Practice of Prevention Research

Background:  The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Disease Prevention (ODP) works to increase the scope, quality, dissemination, and impact of prevention research. To help achieve this mission, the ODP collaborates with NIH Institutes, Centers, and Offices (ICs) as well as other public and private partners. A key ODP partner is the extramural research community. To assist extramural investigators in developing quality research projects that address a wide range of research needs, gaps, and priorities, the ODP has developed a new online information portal: Resources for Researchers. This dissemination effort, which incorporates domains and strategies from the Framework for Knowledge Translation, aims to increase investigator capacity and lead to research that informs improved clinical practice, health policy, and community health programs.

Program background: Resources for Researchers is a comprehensive online portal that provides extramural investigators with information about NIH-funded research projects, guidance on how to apply for NIH funding, and details on prevention-related study sections that review grant applications. The ODP collected information from NIH’s Office of Extramural Research, Center for Scientific Review, and 25 other ICs to develop the portal. The ODP also collaborated with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to provide information on research gaps identified through rigorous systematic reviews by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and the Community Preventive Services Task Force. The portal also highlights the National Nutrition Research Roadmap, developed by more 90 federal experts—including ODP staff, which identifies nutrition research priorities to promote health and prevent disease. Additionally, the portal includes an innovative database of peer-reviewed articles that is manually curated by experts, keyword-searchable, and categorized by research topics. This database includes recent, high-quality studies testing prevention interventions across a range of health conditions. Finally, a comprehensive listing of training opportunities in prevention research methods is under development and will be posted to the portal in May 2016.

Evaluation Methods and Results:  Resources for Researchers launched in September 2015. To evaluate Resources for Researchers, the ODP is conducting website analytics and seeking feedback from extramural researchers through in-depth interviews. Preliminary findings indicate that the portal is highly relevant to prevention researchers and is particularly useful to new investigators.

Conclusions:  Development of the Resources for Researchers online information portal was a collaborative effort designed from a user’s perspective. The goal is to assist investigators in developing and managing quality research projects that address research needs, gaps, and priorities. This dissemination effort is intended to build investigator capacity and has shown to be a useful resource for prevention researchers, particularly new investigators.

Implications for research and/or practice: Resources for Researchers incorporates domains and strategies from the Framework for Knowledge Translation. The ODP found this framework to be useful, and its constructs may assist other knowledge disseminators in tailoring interventions that address the needs, preferences, objectives, and circumstances of potential users.