Testing Strategies to Improve Substance Misuse Prevention Research Use in State Policy Contexts

Part of paid clinical trials in University Park, Pennsylvania.

Sponsor
Penn State University
Study ID
NCT06856148
Status
Recruiting
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Conditions

  • Legislation
  • Prevention
  • Substance Abuse
  • Substance Use Disorders
  • Use of Research Evidence

Eligibility Criteria

Sex
ALL
Age
N/A - N/A
Healthy Volunteers
Accepted

Interventions

  • Intervention: RPC Group — BEHAVIORAL
    The RPC model entails seven interrelated steps including a capacity building and collaboration phase. Throughout the implementation, researchers are provided direct access to intermediary support from our trained RPC fellows who facilitate RPC activity at each step coordinated by an implementation supervisor. Importantly, this model does not involve any lobbying. Consistent with NIH guidelines for grantees, the RPC instead aims to "highlight and translate public health evidence…; conduct coalition building…; provide leadership and training, and foster safe and healthful environments". Specifically, implementation of the RPC model explicitly does not attempt to influence legislative actions, but instead facilitates honest brokerage in which researchers discuss evidence without indicating opinion or stance on how legislators should change specific policies, programs, or regulations.
  • Active Comparator: Control Group — BEHAVIORAL
    Control group participants will receive "light touch" research support, similar to previous work (e.g., an RPC associate will send publicly available research materials in response to research requests). This light touch control condition will increase responsiveness of state officials to survey follow up requests.

Study Details

If science is to inform effective substance misuse prevention policy and ultimately improve public health, the field needs an effective strategy for directly supporting policymakers' use of research evidence, yet our field lacks an evidence-based model designed for this purpose. Accordingly, a state-level randomized controlled trial (N = 30 states) of a formal, theory-based approach for appropriately supporting policymakers' use of scientific evidence--known as the Research-to-Policy Collaboration (RPC) Model is proposed. This work has the potential to reduce population-level substance misuse by improving the use of scientific information in policymaking, thus increasing the availability of evidence-based prevention programs and policies.

Key Dates

Start date
Apr 1, 2023
Status verified
Mar 2025
Primary completion
Mar 31, 2027
Completion
Mar 31, 2027

Study Design

Enrollment
300 participants (estimated)
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
OTHER

Arms

  • Experimental: Intervention Group
    Legislative offices who receive the full Research-to-Policy Model intervention.
  • Active Comparator: Control Group
    Legislative Offices who do not receive the full RPC Model intervention.

Primary Outcome Measure

RPC impact on introduction of evidence-informed bills [ Time Frame: Baseline, post intervention, and 6-months post intervention ]

Central Contacts

Locations (1)

FacilityCityStateZIPSite coordinators
Penn State UniversityUniversity ParkPennsylvania16802
D. Max Crowley, Ph.D.
[email protected]
1-866-905-1872
J. Taylor Scott, Ph.D.
[email protected]
864-431-2411

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