Department of Health and Human Services
	Research, Demonstration, and Evaluation Activities FY 2003 Plan and Budget February 2002

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RESEARCH AND DEMONSTRATIONS

(by HHS Strategic Plan Objective)

IMPROVE THE COMMUNICATION AND APPLICATION OF HEALTH RESEARCH RESULTS (OBJECTIVE 6.6)

FY 2003 Priorities

CHRONIC DISEASE PREVENTION AND HEALTH PROMOTION (CDC)

Research: CDC will support research to ascertain the effectiveness of partnership network communication activities under the special population activities of the National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP).

Evaluations: CDC will evaluate the effectiveness of National Diabetes Education Program in the following areas:

• design and development of culturally appropriate message and products.
• delivering the intervention.
• reaching the intended audiences.
• producing the intended changes in awareness, attitudes and reported behaviors.

HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH (NIH)

Research: In FY 2003, NIH funds will be used to support research to improve communication of health research results in areas such as diabetes, drug abuse, mental health, and cancer. FY 2003 priorities include:

As part of the administration of the National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse (NDIC), National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse (NDDIC), and the National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse (NKUDIC), the NIDDK seeks comments from the public on the products and services provided these information clearinghouses. The survey is conducted via Internet, telephone, mail, and exhibits.

The National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) is creating a database to improve the tracking, evaluation, and reporting of the findings that result from funded research with the creation of a database. The database will provide an organized, accurate, and easily accessible system to determine if the intended outcomes of building depth of science have been achieved. In the first phase, a user interface prototype will be developed; in the second phase the database will be populated and the data will be applied to evaluating results of NINR research.

The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) is conducting a national information clearinghouse customer satisfaction survey focusing on diabetes, digestive diseases, and kidney and urologic diseases. This research will seek comments from the public on the products and services provided by three information clearinghouses that focus on these diseases.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) will support research to:

• develop theory-based strategies that foster construction of anti-drug communications tailored specifically for children, adolescents and their families that take into account individual psycho-social characteristics, gender, age and ethnicity.
• study stages of community readiness for prevention and diffusion (i.e. awareness, adoption/adaptation, implementation and institutionalization) in order to increase the capacity of the research field to disseminate prevention research findings to the community-at-large in an effective and efficient manner with an emphasis on what makes interventions effective and what are the barriers and the enhancers to the delivery of effective treatment services.
• determine the effectiveness of the Office on National Drug Control Policy’s current media campaign at reducing drug use and changing attitudes about drugs among our Nation’s youth.
• determine how to integrate research-based interventions into usual clinical practice, involving research on transfer of new knowledge about treatment, research on the organizational change process involved in adopting and sustaining new behavioral and pharmacological interventions in usual clinical settings, and research on the economics of improving drug abuse treatment practices in specialty and primary care settings.

Research supported by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) will include translating research evidence into community health practice in order to reduce cancer incidence and improve cancer outcomes by:

• assessing needs and progress by monitoring data and cancer trends.
• reviewing the evidence about interventions in order to be able to make decisions about which interventions are appropriate for dissemination.
• conducting model dissemination and diffusion pilots to develop best practices for translating research into improved outcomes.

NCI also will continue to support:

• effective cancer communications through message tailoring and increasing the impact of behavioral counseling on cancer control interventions.
• reviewing the research evidence on cancer-related “decision aids” interventions designed to help people make specific and deliberate choices by providing information on options and outcomes specific to a person’s health status.
• Centers of Excellence in Cancer Communications Research to develop, implement, and evaluate strategies to improve access to cancer information and its efficacy, effectiveness, and dissemination.
• pilot projects to overcome the “digital divide” by testing strategies for increasing access to and use of online and other interactive cancer communications.