Making Research More Manageable for Coalitions

Are you struggling to stay up-to-date with the latest research in the field of substance abuse and coalition building? The most successful coalitions generate population-level changes when they base their action plans on evidence-based strategies. In order to keep pace with the dynamic substance abuse field, coalitions must be prepared to adapt their policies and strategies to the latest research.

CADCA's National Coalition Institute helps coalitions achieve this goal through the informative, bimonthly publication Research Into Action.

The online publication Research Into Action started in 2007 and reviews and analyzes current research in a variety of fields of interest to community coalitions. This free, one page briefing advises coalitions on how they can apply recent research to work in their communities.

According to Andrea de la Flor, Evaluation and Research Manager, Research Into Action addresses the barriers that many coalitions confront when attempting to translate the most up-to-date news and information into their efforts.

“There’s a gap a lot of people talk about between research, the literature of journals and the time it takes to put these elements into practice,” de la Flor said. “This publication helps to narrow that gap.”

De la Flor believes the publication addresses three main barriers to effective implementation: access, time and evaluation. Research Into Action makes materials usually reserved for academic institutions and expensive subscriptions available to coalitions at no cost. The vast majority of substance abuse practitioners cannot keep current with new research due to the large volume of publications and difficulty in accessing them. CADCA staff provides the necessary scientific background to synthesize articles’ results for implementation in coalition work through concise, focused pieces.

De la Flor, responsible for researching and writing the pieces, carefully selects topics by reviewing past articles and the latest issues of top journals. She also studies training and conference evaluations or seeks input from the Institute’s Technical Assistance department to identify the information that coalitions want to learn about.

“It’s a comprehensive process to read and review materials,” de la Flor said. “It has to be new, relevant to coalitions and have a ‘take away’ for coalition action.”

After selecting a topic, de la Flor carefully examines the research material and produces an article, focusing on the results and methodology and how these two components can be integrated into a coalition’s specific strategy.

The latest piece in the series highlights a study concerning training transfer and trainer accountability for bringing information back to organization or coalition members. According to de la Flor, these articles help coalitions by establishing a specific, actionable focus.

“You know what you’re doing is based in research,” de la Flor said. “This nugget of information helps tell coalitions what type of research is out there and what might actually work in achieving community level change and coalition sustainability. The Institute urges coalitions to subscribe to Research Into Action and utilize its resources for implementing new strategies.”

Subscribe to Research Into Action by registering at www.cadca.org. Individual articles can also be viewed and downloaded in PDF format.