Background: Local health department (LHD) awareness and application of PCORI-funded patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR) and comparative clinical effectiveness research (CER) to their work is likely very limited. Yet, this research is an important source of data to inform local population health decision making. Opportunities exist to increase LHD and their community partners’ awareness and use of PCOR and CER to improve patient and population health.

Proposed Solution to the Problem: The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), a membership organization representing 3,000 LHDs nationwide, will assess LHD awareness and use of PCOR and CER. A capacity-building technical assistance (CBTA) pilot program and results will assist LHDs and their partners in incorporating PCOR and CER into public health and healthcare practice.  

Objectives:

• Assess LHD awareness and relevance of PCOR and CER, and LHD capacity to use it
• Facilitate a pilot program to build LHD and community partner capacity to use PCOR and CER
• Assess pilot site use of PCOR and CER for facilitators, barriers, solutions, and innovations to build PCOR and CER use
• Promote findings and resources to encourage broader LHD and partner PCOR and CER uptake 

Activities: NACCHO will form an expert advisory group, review secondary data, and conduct interviews to determine if and how LHDs and community partners use PCOR and CER; what information is relevant; and what methods enable LHDs and their partners to use it. Results will inform Year 2, providing capacity-building technical assistance to and assessing the activities of four pilot sites to build LHD and partner PCOR and CER use capacity; facilitating a learning collaborative; and developing resources, including a replication toolkit, for broader LHD engagement in PCOR and CER. Project results will be promoted on NACCHO’s website, through a webinar, and at national conferences.

Outcomes and Outputs: NACCHO and PCORI will better understand awareness, relevance, and application of PCOR and CER among LHDs and their partners; and more LHDs will be aware of, share, and use PCOR and CER to inform population health and healthcare practice. Outputs include research reports; pilot site action, sustainability, and communications plans and progress reports; a dissemination toolkit; and a promotional campaign, webinar, and presentations to disseminate project results.  

Patient and Stakeholder Engagement Plan: NACCHO has an extensive history of building the capacity of LHDs and their partners. Using NACCHO’s member database, LHDs and key partners will be recruited to participate in an expert advisory group and Year 1 assessment activities. From these, four communities will be enlisted as pilot sites to receive CBTA to inform broader dissemination strategies.

Project Collaborators: NACCHO will be responsible for implementing the project in consultation with national partners.