Myriam Hamdallah, MPH, MS, Richard Sawyer, PhD, Danielle M Darrow, BA, and Nicole Engle, BA. Center on AIDS & Community Health, Academy for Educational Development, 1825 Connecticut Avenue, Washington, DC 20009, 202 884-8858, mhamdall@aed.org

The objective of this study is to evaluate participant satisfaction and self assessment of knowledge and skills gained through training on VOICES/VOCES, a bilingual science-based STD/HIV prevention intervention that is being diffused nationally as part of CDC’s Diffusion of Effective Behavioral Interventions (DEBI) project. The DEBI project aims to bridge the gap between research and practice by making science based interventions accessible to health departments and community-based organizations. Feedback on trainings is utilized to conduct quality assurance and improvement, including proactive technical assistance to trainers, to assess short-term impacts related to intervention implementation, and to inform diffusion strategies of other science-based interventions.

Through a collaboration between public and private agencies, 22 trainers conducted 15 trainings with a total of 270 participants, representing health departments and community-based organizations from 14 states. Fifteen more trainings are planned for 2004. Participant questionnaires include items on demographics, satisfaction with the training, and knowledge & skills obtained. Response rate is 97%. Results, to date, indicate high levels of satisfaction with the trainings, and point to training components that require improvement. Results also suggest that significant increases in knowledge and skills have occurred, which may be predictive of intervention adoption and use. Chi-square analyses are performed to explore differences by organization type and participant level of experience.

This study provides useful data on short term impacts of a national-level diffusion of a science-based STD/HIV prevention intervention. Results are discussed in the context of DEBI program diffusion strategy and as a model for other diffusion projects.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe the Diffusion of Effective Behavioral Interventions training strategy
• Discuss the use of participant feedback for quality assurance and assessment of short-term impacts
• Apply the diffusion model utilized in this project to other strategies for diffusing educational programs

Keywords: Training, Behavior Modification

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.