Community-researcher partnerships at NIAID HIV/AIDS clinical trials sites: insights for evaluation and enhancement.

Background: Community engagement has been a cornerstone of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)'s HIV/AIDS clinical trials programs since 1990. Stakeholders now consider this critical to success, hence the impetus to develop evaluation approaches.

Objectives: The purpose was to assess the extent to which community advisory boards (CABs) at HIV/AIDS trials sites are being integrated into research activities.

Integrating utilization-focused evaluation with business process modeling for clinical research improvement.

New discoveries in basic science are creating extraordinary opportunities to design novel biomedical preventions and therapeutics for human disease. But the clinical evaluation of these new interventions is, in many instances, being hindered by a variety of legal, regulatory, policy and operational factors, few of which enhance research quality, the safety of study participants or research ethics. With the goal of helping increase the efficiency and effectiveness of clinical research, we have examined how the integration of utilization-focused evaluation with elements of business process modeling can reveal opportunities for systematic improvements in clinical research.

Evaluating research and impact: a bibliometric analysis of research by the NIH/NIAID HIV/AIDS clinical trials networks.

Evaluative bibliometrics uses advanced techniques to assess the impact of scholarly work in the context of other scientific work and usually compares the relative scientific contributions of research groups or institutions. Using publications from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) HIV/AIDS extramural clinical trials networks, we assessed the presence, performance, and impact of papers published in 2006-2008. Through this approach, we sought to expand traditional bibliometric analyses beyond citation counts to include normative comparisons across journals and fields, visualization of co-authorship across the networks, and assess the inclusion of publications in reviews and syntheses.

Developing a conceptual framework for an evaluation system for the NIAID HIV/AIDS clinical trials networks.

Globally, health research organizations are called upon to re-examine their policies and practices to more efficiently and effectively address current scientific and social needs, as well as increasing public demands for accountability.Through a case study approach, the authors examine an effort undertaken by the National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases (part of the National Institutes of Health, Department of Health & Human Services, United States Government) to develop an evaluation system for its recently restructured HIV/AIDS clinical trials program. The challenges in designing, operationalizing, and managing global clinical trials programs are considered in the context of large scale scientific research initiatives.

The critical role of conflict resolution in teams: a close look at the links between conflict type, conflict management strategies, and team outcomes.

This article explores the linkages between strategies for managing different types of conflict and group performance and satisfaction. Results from a qualitative study of 57 autonomous teams suggest that groups that improve or maintain top performance over time share 3 conflict resolution tendencies: (a) focusing on the content of interpersonal interactions rather than delivery style, (b) explicitly discussing reasons behind any decisions reached in accepting and distributing work assignments, and (c) assigning work to members who have the relevant task expertise rather than assigning by other common means such as volunteering, default, or convenience. The authors' results also suggest that teams that are successful over time are likely to be both proactive in anticipating the need for conflict resolution and pluralistic in developing conflict resolution strategies that apply to all group members.

An examination of community members', researchers' and health professionals' perceptions of barriers to minority participation in medical research: an application of concept mapping.

Objective: Some of the most promising medical treatments are currently being developed and used in clinical trials. In the US, rates of chronic disease among racial/ethnic minorities are disproportionately high. Unfortunately, the rates of minority participation in medical research are low, and the reasons are unclear.

Evaluating program effectiveness using the regression point displacement design.

Most health care initiatives are evaluated using observational study designs in lieu of randomized controlled trials (RCT) due primarily to resource limitations. However, although observational studies are less expensive to implement and evaluate, they are also more problematic in determining causality than the RCT. This trade off is most apparent in the initial planning stage of program development.

An introduction to concept mapping as a participatory public health research method.

In this article, the authors introduce concept mapping as a useful participatory research method for public health researchers interested in generating hypotheses and developing theory. The authors first provide an overview of concept mapping, which combines qualitative approaches with quantitative analytical tools to produce visual displays of the relationship between ideas. Then, they present an illustrative research application of the method to the exploration of women's perceptions of the relationship between residential neighborhood factors and intimate partner violence experiences.

Setting objectives for community and systems change: an application of concept mapping for planning a statewide health improvement initiative.

The Hawaii Department of Health (HDOH) used concept mapping techniques to engage local stakeholders and national subject area experts in defining the community and system factors that affect individuals' behaviors related to tobacco, nutrition, and physical activity. Over eight working days, project participants brainstormed 496 statements (edited to a final set of 90), which were then sorted and rated for their importance and feasibility. A sequence of multivariate statistical analyses, including multidimensional scaling and hierarchical cluster analysis, generated maps and figures that were then interpreted by project stakeholders.