Selected Interventions

Case studies of interventions—or techniques to improve communities’ health—describe selected projects led by Prevention Research Centers. The methods used in testing the interventions, the status of the results, and the status of the dissemination efforts determine to which category the case study is added.

The PRC Program’s Policy Statement for Intervention Review explains the procedure and criteria used for assessing interventions and classifying them as shown below. In brief, the case studies rely on two main concepts: effectiveness and dissemination.

Interventions are considered effective if the researchers used sound experimental design and controlled for potential sources of bias, and the outcome measures are of statistical and public health significance. Interventions are considered disseminated if they have been successfully implemented in populations other than the original study population.

These definitions apply to the first three categories below. In addition, peer-reviewed, published articles are available and cited for the case studies in these three categories. The fourth category describes work not yet published, or activities—such as health policy changes—for which standard research publications are not applicable.

The research reported in these case studies has established the effectiveness of an intervention and has demonstrated the feasibility of disseminating it.

The research reported in these case studies has demonstrated the effectiveness of an intervention but has not yet shown it to be adoptable in other settings.

These case studies report interventions that show promise in bringing about beneficial change in a population, but the evidence is not strong enough to demonstrate effectiveness. These case studies may describe preliminary data or situations in which replication or a stronger research design is necessary to demonstrate effectiveness.

These case studies describe both research and non-research projects. The research is in progress and of particular interest because it addresses a health disparity, another priority health issue, or is especially creative in design or execution. However, the research has not yet been published in the peer-reviewed literature. The case studies of non-research projects describe interventions, such as health policy changes, that do not necessarily involve scientific research.

For detailed information on how the work is reviewed, see the Policy Statement for Intervention Review.