The Relationship of CDC's Conceptual Framework for Communities of Practice to Program Activities

The National Center for Public Health Informatics (NCPHI) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has adopted the use of communities of practice (CoPs) as a means to strengthen and enhance its Public Health Information Network (PHIN).  The PHIN CoP Program (PHIN CoPP) at CDC consists of NCPHI staff whose activities support the development, implementation, and maintenance of CoPs. A conceptual framework has been developed that can be used to set the context and evaluate activities related to CoPs. The conceptual framework sets CoPs within an adapted federated model and uses the principles of community-based participatory approaches to guide the activities. This presentation discusses the model, which was adapted from Wenger’s (2002) initial work, in terms of its relationship to program activities.  It also explains how a theory of change approach has been generated to explore how CoPs are expected to influence the implementation of PHIN on three different levels: individual, organizational, and programmatic.  Emphasis will be placed on discussions at the programmatic level of analysis.