Dissemination of Evidence-Informed Interventions to Improve Health Outcomes along the HIV Care Continuum – Dissemination and Evaluation Center

initiatives in health care settings. The awardee will first be expected to adapt these interventions to better fit into the new health care environment, and then conduct a multi-site evaluation of their implementation by up to 12 performance sites interested in incorporating these interventions into their change management processes.  The performance sites will be funded under a separate funding mechanism.  Evaluation results will inform best practices and lessons learned to be included in additional dissemination efforts.  Thus the dissemination role of the successful applicant will be equally important to its evaluation role. In its first year of funding, the DEC will develop four implementation-ready interventions adapted from previous Special Projects of National Significance initiatives.  These initiatives are Enhancing Linkages for Those Newly Released from Jails (2007-2012, more commonly known as the SPNS Jails Initiative);[1] An Evaluation of Innovative Methods for Integrating Buprenorphine Opioid Abuse Treatment in HIV Primary Care (2004-2009, commonly known as the Buprenorphine Initiative);[2] Targeted HIV Outreach and Intervention Model Development and Evaluation for Underserved HIV-positive Populations Not in Care (2001-2006, more commonly known as the SPNS Outreach Initiative);[3] and the Secretary’s Minority AIDS Initiative Fund (SMAIF) Retention and Re-Engagement Project (2011-2014, also known as the Peer Re-Engagement Project).[4]  The DEC will develop web-based materials for dissemination of  each intervention, listing its activity components; theoretical foundations; staffing and training requirements; costs (if available); and previously published evidence-informed research and evaluation reports and journal articles.  Each intervention will have its own webpage with these materials, to be published on the existing TARGET (Technical Assistance Resources, Guidance, Education and Training) Center website.[5]   Also during Year 1, the DEC will design a multi-site evaluation plan to assess the fidelity, effectiveness and costs of these interventions when implemented in Years 2 through 4 of the initiative.  The DEC also will lead the development of implementation plans for the four interventions, working in close collaboration with an Implementation Technical Assistance Center (ITAC).  The DEC will also assist the ITAC in the development of technical assistance (TA) agendas informed by those implementation plans.  The TA agendas will include site visit protocols developed by the ITAC with assistance from the DEC.  In the second half  of Year 1, the ITAC will select and fund up to 12 subcontracted performance sites, which must be Ryan White-funded medical provider organizations willing to implement an intervention developed by the DEC.  DEC applicants should carefully read the requirements for the ITAC under Funding Opportunity Announcement Number HRSA-15-130 to learn more about the DEC’s role in this initiative. In Years 2 through 4, the DEC will implement its multi-site evaluation, collecting outcome, process and cost data from the performance sites.  During this period, the DEC will also be responsible for the provision of evaluation-related TA to the performance sites, while the ITAC will provide implementation-related TA. Informed by its findings from the multi-site evaluation, the DEC will revise and enhance its web-based materials published earlier on the TARGET Center website.  The DEC also will engage in publication and dissemination of findings from the initiative, including best practices, lessons learned and cost analyses to foster rapid, efficient replication of these evidence-informed interventions by other HIV care organizations.  The principal goal of this initiative and its evidence-informed interventions is the improvement of health outcomes along the HIV Care Continuum, with an emphasis on viral suppression.  DEC proposals are expected to demonstrate expertise in conducting national multi-site evaluations of innovative models and interventions to improve the delivery of HIV services to people living with HIV. [1] See http://hab.hrsa.gov/abouthab/special/carejail.html [2] See http://hab.hrsa.gov/abouthab/special/buprenorphine.html [3] See http://hab.hrsa.gov/abouthab/special/outreachandintervention.html [4] See http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT01616940 [5] See https://careacttarget.org/