Research

This publication is designed to help communities understand the relevance of Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) to their local work. It describes how CBPR is different from traditional research, the historical groundings of this research approach, principles of CBPR and examples/lessons learned from CBPR projects. The goal of this publication is to help coalitions understand how they can be involved in and contribute to the CBPR process, including how to select a research partner and how to set up a successful CBPR project. The goal of this publication is to help coalitions understand how they can become involved in research and why their involvement is valuable and critically important to furthering our understanding of how we can effectively reduce substance abuse at the population level.

Passing and adopting local policies poses numerous challenges and barriers to community coalitions. While a number of research articles currently examine the legislative process and details of policy enactment, very few discuss the process of local policy adoption and the issues organizations tackle in trying to assure passage of local ordinances. In order to understand the process of adopting and implementing local policies, researchers Travis D. Satterland, Diana Cassady, Jeanette Treiber, and Cathy Lemp at the University of California Davis analyzed the major barriers and challenges associated with the California Tobacco Control Program (CTCP) and its local projects that attempted to pass outdoor smoke-free ordinances. The researchers found that political polarization, local political orientation and organizational barriers presented the greatest challenges to local CTCP projects.

Currently, a number of studies identify waterpipe tobacco smoking, most commonly known as hookah, as an emerging trend among college students in the United States.  However, the substance abuse field lacks evidence about the factors associated with the spread of waterpipe smoking in this population, such as perception of harm and commercial availability and use. In response to the lack of research, researchers Sutfin, E.L., et al. at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center conducted one of the first studies investigating the prevalence of waterpipe tobacco smoke use among a large, multi-institution sample of college students.  The study found that waterpipe smoking is nearly as popular with college students as cigarettes, particularly at institutions with nearby waterpipe smoking venues and among freshmen.

Although collaborative partnerships, such as coordinating councils and coalitions, hold a high status among communities, the research field remains uncertain about how these partnerships best employ efforts to impact communities in the long run. However, results from a recent study conducted by researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign suggest that the success intermediate outcomes, such as promotion of knowledge and strong relationships, significantly relate to and influence each other and long-term outcomes.

Over the last several decades of research, epidemiology studies indicate drinking alcohol as a risk factor for an array of injuries, diseases, and social injustices and a leading cause of morbidity (i.e., diseased condition or state) and mortality (i.e., death).  Additionally, the published literature indicates a strong relationship between alcohol tax and price levels and alcohol sales, drinking, and alcohol-related morbidity and mortality outcomes.  Based on these established relationships and literature, researchers Alexander Wagenaar, Amy Tober, and Kelli Komro hypothesized and found that a negative relationship exists between alcohol tax/price levels and alcohol-related morbidity and mortality.

This paper was developed to be responsive to the coalition field and to help coalitions understand how environmental strategies are critical elements of a comprehensive plan to reduce substance use and abuse. Environmental strategies are used to change the context (environment) in which substance use and abuse occur. Environmental strategies incorporate efforts aimed at changing or influencing community conditions, standards, institutions, structures, systems and policies (Babor, 2003).

In community settings, fidelity poses a significant challenge to successfully implementing evidence-based programs (EBPs). Fidelity refers to the implementation of a program in the identical method in which it was tested by researchers to achieve similar results. According to a recent study conducted by researchers at Pennsylvania State University’s Prevention Research Center, various positive elements of coalition functioning, such as strong leadership and program fidelity, influence a coalition’s ability to support the high-quality implementation of EBPs.

For over twenty years, researchers in the field of Human Resource Development have worked to understand the conditions that promote or inhibit the transfer of training information to the workplace. Transfer of training occurs when participants successfully take the training information learned and actively apply it to improving their day-to-day work. Simply investing in a training opportunity does not guarantee transfer of training. In fact, studies indicate that only half of all organizational training investments result in direct benefits to the organization (Saks, 2002). A recent article published in Human Resource Development Review found that accountability plays a key role in improving the process of incorporating new skills and strategies into the structure of an organization.