During 2 days of presentations and discussions, participants explored numerous strategies and opportunities for disseminating and implementing evidence-based preventive interventions. Given that public funding for such efforts often is insufficient, several participants discussed other business models that may support these efforts, including social impact bonds and other public–private partnerships in which private investors provide the capital needed to support an intervention and then receive payouts from governments based on achieved outcomes. This requires monitoring outcomes and developing a venture capital model that will appeal to community-based private investors.
Several participants noted there also are new opportunities in the public sector that could be tapped, including the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which supports prevention interventions that are part of new health care delivery systems, such as medical homes and accountable care organizations. In addition, waivers from state and federal agencies provide flexible funding that could be used to support innovative prevention interventions for children.
Workshop participants also explored ways to build consumer demand for evidence-based interventions (EBIs), including offering a menu of interventions, combining several EBIs, and tailoring EBI selection so it best suits the needs of community organizations. Several participants noted that greater effort could be made to market EBIs using a common framework, adopting terms used by the targeted consumers of the interventions, and using a range of dissemination partners. During the discussion some participants also suggested that community engagement in EBIs could be
fostered by balancing community-developed interventions with academic ones and by evaluating and adapting EBIs while they are implemented so they better suit consumer needs.
Suggested ways to overcome the barriers that still exist for prevention EBI dissemination and implementation included developing appropriate metrics, standards, and guidelines that can aid the public funding and private investment in these programs, as well as ensuring consumer needs are being met. Integration of silos was also considered key, including integrating public health into primary care and integrating data systems for the various domains in which a child is involved, such as schools, health care systems, and child welfare or juvenile justice agencies. Several participants noted that there could be better integration and coordination of agencies overseeing the welfare of children as well as better integration of their funding sources and discussed having a new federal agency devoted to prevention in youth or youth development. Better integration of child-focused disciplines—for example, by setting a common goal for various sectors and disciplines—was also a topic of discussion, as was integration of academic and government research with practice in the field, including the need for more research partnerships between communities and government personnel or academic researchers.
The workshop also explored new technologies and analytic methods for dissemination, implementation, and quality improvement of prevention EBIs, including Web-based systems that can be used to tailor EBIs more effectively to the organizations adopting them or to deliver interventions. Some workshop participants spoke about how new statistical methods combined with greater dissemination of technology can enable researchers as well as consumers to assess the effectiveness of multiple interventions while they are being implemented and adapt them appropriately. Some participants also noted that sensors and mobile phones enable the collection of personal data that can make interventions easier to use and more effective.
In summary, while current public funding for preventive EBI dissemination and implementation may be wanting, methodological and technological advances in EBI development, coupled with innovative business models and new public-sector opportunities, may be leveraged to both meet consumer demand and increase preventive EBI utilization.
