The CAPTURE Project recently hosted a think tank entitled “How can we CAPTURE practice-based evidence?” as part of the 3rd Annual NIH Conference on the Science of Dissemination and Implementation.
The purpose of this think tank was to provide an overview of The CAPTURE Project and solicit feedback on one of its proposed features – reflective practice.
The think tank explained how CAPTURE is developing a web-based evaluation platform that will enable practitioners in the chronic disease prevention community to more easily evaluate their programs. The platform will offer evaluation planning and implementation tools including a database of indicators and process and outcome data collection instruments, data analysis features, and report generation functions. Facebook-style social networking features and Google-like search functionality will also be provided to help practitioners connect with each other and find similar interventions. In response to practitioner needs, CAPTURE is developing a feature that will collect what is usually referred to as the tacit knowledge of practitioners, the learnings they generate through implementing their programs. We presented a framework that outlined the main types of information that will be asked within the three stages of the program lifecycle (before implementation, during implementation, and at the conclusion of the program).
The audience of approximately thirty attendees was very enthusiastic about The CAPTURE Project, the assistance it will offer for conducting evaluations, and the learnings it will collect on implementing health promotion programs. We received positive feedback on the need for this type of service but also heard concerns. Questions were raised about how CAPTURE was going to roll-up, synthesize or aggregate the tacit knowledge and how it was going to cultivate trust in the veracity and reliability of the information. During the discussion, participants offered solutions to some of the challenges faced by CAPTURE. One suggestion was to consider the information obtained from practitioners as they implement their programs as “hypothesis generating” rather than definitive or confirmatory evidence on the success of the intervention implementation. CAPTURE will use the feedback received, the questions posed, and the solutions offered to continue to develop the platform in a way that is responsive to the needs and concerns of the chronic disease prevention community.
