PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS AND INTERNATIONAL NETWORKING FORUM
The Society for Prevention Research provides training opportunities in prevention science during pre-conference workshops scheduled for Tuesday, May 27, 2014. All workshops require registration.
PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS (scroll below for full details)
Pre-Conference Workshop I, 8:30 am – 5:00 pm, Building the Economic Case for Prevention: Methods and Tools for Assessing the Resource Needs and Economic Costs for Preventive Intervention
Pre-Conference Workshop II, 8:30 am – 5:00 pm, Promising Practices in Teaching as Applied to Prevention Science
Pre-Conference Workshop III, 8:30 am – 5:00 pm, NIH Grant Writing 101 for Prevention Scientists
Pre-Conference Workshop IV, 8:30 am – 4:30 pm, Time-Varying Effect Models in Prevention Science
INTERNATIONAL TASK FORCE, MEET AND GREET
1:00 pm – 1:30 pm
INTERNATIONAL NETWORKING FORUM
1:30 pm – 4:30 pm
The International Networking Forum is designed to bring together colleagues who are working in the international arena on prevention science research, programs, and policies. This is an interactive forum and it is not a workshop nor a didactic session; rather it is an effort to foster international collaboration in pursuit of promoting prevention science world-wide. Participation is key to the forum. The forum is sponsored by the International Task Force and each year, projects are addressed that will further the underlying goal of supporting and networking colleagues who work in the international arena.
Pre-Conference Workshop I
Date: Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Time: 8:30 am – 5:00 pm
Building the Economic Case for Prevention: Methods and Tools for Assessing the Resource Needs and Economic Costs of Preventive Intervention
Co-Organizers and Presenters: Margaret Kuklinski, PhD, University of Washington, and D. Max Crowley, PhD, Duke University
Description
The Society for Prevention Research has recognized the need to strengthen economic analysis of prevention in its MAPS III Task Force. Prevention researchers, practitioners, and policy makers increasingly require economic information as they seek to take evidence-based programs to scale. Cost analyses provide a critical foundation for all economic analysis strategies, whether cost-effectiveness, benefit-cost, or cost utility, yet too often researchers become aware of the need for cost information late in the research process, making it difficult to obtain accurate, timely information. When researchers and practitioners desire proactively to understand intervention costs, they may lack the methods and tools for doing so. This workshop addresses these issues by offering participants the conceptual understanding, methods, tools, and hands-on practice needed to begin to perform cost analyses in their work. The workshop will also contribute to the development of a cadre of trained researchers with the skills to understand and evaluate the economics of prevention.
This workshop is relevant to prevention researchers, interventionists, and policy makers. The workshop does not require special skills, but some knowledge of the prevention field would be helpful. The maximum number of attendees is 30 to allow sufficient interaction between the presenters and attendees during the hands-on portion of the workshop.
Participants will leave the workshop with an understanding of the importance of economic analysis in prevention and the methods for conducting cost analysis. They will also be offered materials (paper and electronic access) that support the workshop’s central learning objectives:
ü Handouts and PowerPoint presentations related to key workshop constructs
ü Cost analysis design and planning tools, data collection instruments
ü List of relevant publications and references on economic and cost analysis in prevention
Each participant will also be invited to join SPR if not already a member, as well as the SPR Prevention Efficiency Planning and Research special interest group.
Workshop Outline
The workshop has two overall objectives: (1) To offer participants the conceptual foundation, methods, and tools needed to carry out cost analysis, and (2) to allow participants ample hands-on time to design a cost analysis using information gained in the workshop. Participants can use their own work as the basis for the design, join other participants in completing a design, or use case study examples offered by the presenters. The content for this workshop is specifically tailored based upon feedback from the 2010 SPR workshop by Crowley & Hill.
Pre-Conference Workshop I: Building the Economic Case for Prevention: Methods and Tools for Assessing the Resource Needs and Economic Costs of Preventive Intervention (For more details Downloadable PDF version)
Pre-Conference Workshop II
Date: Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Time: 8:30 am – 5:00 pm
Promising Practices in Teaching as Applied to Prevention Science
Organizers: W. John Monopoli, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Kelly Rulison, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Nadine Finigan-Carr, University of Maryland, and Valerie Shapiro, University of California-Berkeley
Presenters:
Morning speakers: Yolanda Abel, EdD, Johns Hopkins University, Karl Hill, PhD, University of Washington;
Panel members (afternoon): Nadine Finigan-Carr, PhD, University of Maryland-Baltimore, Keith Herman, PhD and Wendy Reinke, PhD, University of Missouri, Sharon Kingston, PhD, Dickinson College, Kelly Rulison, PhD, University of North Carolina-Greensboro, and Valerie Shapiro, PhD, University of California-Berkeley.
Description
There is an increasing press within higher education for instructors to implement active learning strategies within their classrooms. In other words, instructors are being encouraged to move from the role of a “sage on the stage” to the role of a “guide on the side.” The goal of this workshop is to introduce participants to a wide array of evidence-based teaching practices as well as active learning strategies that they can implement within their own classrooms. Participants who already utilize active learning strategies within their classroom will benefit from this session by learning about new technology tools that they can incorporate into their classrooms. The workshop will be interactive, providing participants with an opportunity to not only learn about some best practices in teaching, but also to experience these activities firsthand.
The first half of the workshop will focus on general principles about how students learn and effective pedagogy. During this half of the workshop, Dr. Yolanda Abel and Dr. Karl Hill will discuss topics such as teaching to different backgrounds and audiences (e.g., undergraduate and graduate), and integrating disciplines (e.g., elements of social psychology with clinical and cognitive psychology in a course on development). Dr. Abel and Dr. Hill will also discuss how to integrate a prevention science focus into coursework. After each talk, participants will engage in two breakout group sessions where they will learn different active learning strategies within small groups. Dr. Abel and Dr. Hill will assist in developing specific activities for each breakout session.
During the second half of the workshop, participants will learn how these principles can be applied to teaching research methods and statistics to prevention scientists in a wide range of applied disciplines (e.g., public health, social work, human development, psychology). It is expected that the strategies demonstrated during this half of the session can be applied for teaching a wide range of other subjects (i.e., the choice of focusing on research methods and statistics is intended to be illustrative rather than prescriptive). The second half will begin with a panel session, comprised of several professors who focus on teaching and learning and others who focus specifically on teaching research methods and statistics. Panelists will discuss topics such as strategies for small-group learning, how to integrate technology into the classroom (e.g., use of clickers), methods of channeling student anxiety in a positive manner, how to facilitate and evaluate multi-disciplinary independent projects, and how to apply research methods to the community. By including a mixture of early career and more experienced associates – each with unique educational backgrounds but having found a common area in teaching – the panel will reinforce the conference theme of building partnerships and transcending boundaries.
Pre-Conference Workshop #2: Promising Practices in Teaching as Applied to Prevention Science (For more details Downloadable PDF version)
Pre-Conference Workshop III
Date: Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Time: 8:30 am – 5:00 pm
NIH Grant Writing 101 for Prevention Scientists
Organizer and Presenter: Steven M. Kogan, PhD, University of Georgia
Description
Health promotion and disease prevention comprise a substantial portion of the portfolios of multiple centers and institutes in the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This funding supports an array of activities spanning the Institute of Medicine’s prevention research cycle, including:
a) identification of modifiable risk and protective factors for health-related endpoints,
b) translation of malleable factors into preventive interventions,
c) feasibility and preliminary effectiveness studies of novel interventions,
d) randomized prevention trials to establish efficacy and effectiveness,
e) investigation of dissemination strategies for evidence-based interventions, and
f) diffusion and adoption research.
NIH also provides funding mechanisms for training early-career scientists and supporting preliminary studies. Even in the best of times, however, securing NIH funding for prevention research is a challenge. This challenge has been amplified in an environment of scarce resources in academic departments and universities; competition for diminishing research dollars has grown fierce. Unfortunately, seldom do junior faculty receive adequate postdoctoral training and mentoring for launching a successful career as an NIH-funded researcher. Without a thorough grounding in NIH contexts, processes, and the core competencies of NIH grantsmanship, the barriers to NIH funding may seem insurmountable. The truth is that NIH, although a complex system, is organized to provide a fair and reasoned distribution of research dollars to maximize their impact on science and public health. Successfully securing NIH funding involves a set of skills and competencies that can be mastered with training, persistence, and mentoring.
This 7 contact-hour preconference seminar is designed to introduce junior faculty and postdocs to the contexts, processes, and skills involved in successfully pursuing funding to support prevention research through the NIH. In addition, this seminar presents networking, mentoring, and collaboration as key elements of success and addresses ways to develop relationships that can support NIH success. At the conclusion of this workshop, participants will:
(a) understand NIH organization, mission, and funding priorities with a focus on ways prevention science can inform innovative proposals with significant public health impact.
(b) understand the different award mechanisms and identify the ones that may be most suitable for the next phases of their research programs and their career stages. These include R01, R21, R03, and K awards.
(c) understand how NIH processes, reviews, and awards grants.
(d) develop and refine a research innovation concept that provides a foundation for developing a fundable idea and engaging collaborators.
(e) learn how to engage NIH program staff, potential mentors, and collaborators in developing a competitive proposal.
(f) become familiar with the review criteria and sections of an “R” series research proposal.
(g) develop skills to increase proposal clarity.
(h) understand the importance of using specific narrative structures to build reviewers’ enthusiasm.
(i) understand common criticisms of proposals and learn specific writing structures to avoid them.
(j) understand how to interpret and respond to review summaries.
Pre-Conference Workshop #3: NIH Grant Writing 101 for Prevention Scientists (For more details Downloadable PDF version)
Pre-Conference Workshop IV
Date: Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Time: 8:30 am – 4:30 pm
Time-Varying Effect Models in Prevention Research
Co-Organizers and Presenters: Stephanie T. Lanza, PhD, Pennsylvania State University, Sara A. Vasilenko, PhD, Pennsylvania State University, Runze Li, PhD, Pennsylvania State University
Description
A new analytic method, the time-varying effect model (TVEM), can enable prevention researchers to examine dynamic (i.e. time-varying) processes. This method can help to answer questions such as: How do program effects change over time? How do risk factors differentially predict behavior at different ages? What ages may be particularly important times for intervention?
The goal of this hands-on workshop is to attendees gain the background and skills to be able to identify and address new research questions using TVEM. We have three primary objectives:
Objective 1. Participants will identify, explain, and describe attributes of TVEMs, including
a) a new set of research questions that can be addressed using TVEM, and
b) data structures that lend themselves to traditional longitudinal methods, compared to data structures that permit an examination of time-varying effects.
Objective 2. Participants will gain theoretical knowledge of and experience in use of SAS software to
a) estimate a basic TVEM in order to examine the mean level, proportion, or count on an outcome variable as a function of continuous time,
b) examine the time-varying effects of both time-invariant (e.g., gender) and time-varying (e.g., urge to smoke) predictors on an outcome,
c) incorporate grouping variables (e.g., treatment condition) as moderators of time-varying effects, and
d) interpret all TVEM output, which includes tables of fixed effects and figures showing nonparametric coefficient functions for the mean trend and time-varying effects of covariates.
Objective 3. Participants will understand the different metrics of time that can be used to address innovative research questions, and will gain familiarity with applications of TVEM to cross-sectional and panel data.
Pre-Conference Workshop #4: Time-Varying Effect Models in Prevention Research (For more details Downloadable PDF version)
International Task Force, Meet and Greet
Date: Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Time: 1:00 pm – 1:30 pm
International Networking Forum
Date: Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Time: 1:30 pm – 4:30 pm
The International Networking Forum is designed to bring together colleagues who are working in the international arena on prevention science research, programs, and policies. This is an interactive forum and it is neither a workshop nor a didactic session; rather it is an effort to foster international collaboration in pursuit of promoting prevention science world-wide. Participation is key to the forum. The forum is sponsored by the International Task Force and each year, projects are addressed that will further the underlying goal of supporting and networking colleagues who work in the international arena.