Multi-Level Community-Engaged Prevention Research

Researchers at the Prevention Research Center (PRC) specialize in multi-level community-engaged research. Working in multi-disciplinary teams they partner with communities across New Mexico and beyond to solve health concerns identified by communities and supported by data. Their research is funded by federal agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), as well as other state and federal agencies and private foundations.

The PRC’s portfolio of research includes studies that address health disparities in the following areas: adolescent health, teen pregnancy, suicide, injury prevention, childhood obesity, physical activity, nutrition and dietary intake, and other topics related to promoting and preventing chronic disease. Examples of these studies are available on this website.

Using mixed methods, the research conducted at the PRC is divided into 5 major categories:

• Formative research is designed to identify research questions, support innovation and new research, and lead to interventions and policies that can improve the health and well-being of individuals and communities.
• Field-based efficacy trials include randomized controlled trials that test new methods and bring fresh perspectives and innovation to the science of prevention.
• Translation research that examines how to bridge the gap between research and practice and policy by using current state of the art implementation science methods to study the translation, dissemination, and implementation of evidence-based recommendations and delivery models.
• Implementation science is the systematic study of the processes and factors that are associated with successful integration of evidence-based interventions within a particular setting.
• Dissemination research is the systematic study of processes and factors that lead to widespread use of an evidence-based intervention.

An example of a longitudinal translational study conducted by researchers at the PRC is presented in the model presented here entitled Model for Systematic and Progressive Scaling Up of Evidence-based Recommendations for Physical Activity.