Logo image
Back
A Mixed-Methods Analysis to Understand the Implementation of a Multi-stakeholder Research Consortium: Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO)
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

A Mixed-Methods Analysis to Understand the Implementation of a Multi-stakeholder Research Consortium: Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO)

Elissa Z Faro, Katherine A Sauder, Gwendolyn S. Norman, Amber Anderson, Carmen Velez Vega, David Napp, Kathi C. Huddleston and Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Collaborators
Journal of clinical and translational science, Vol.7(1), e198
08/29/2023
DOI: 10.1017/cts.2023.620
PMCID: PMC10565193
PMID: 37830008
Appears in  UI Libraries Support Open Access
url
https://doi.org/10.1017/cts.2023.620View
Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

Introduction: Large, transdisciplinary research consortia have increasingly been called upon to address complex and challenging health problems. The National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program developed multi-site collaboration strategies to promote impactful collaborative observational research on child health. Team science and implementation science offer theoretical and methodological structure to answer questions about the strategies that facilitate successful consortia. We sought to characterize the elements and conditions that influence the implementation of a complex, interdisciplinary longitudinal research program, ECHO. Methods: Informed by the Practical, Robust, Implementation and Sustainability Model (PRISM), our ethnographic research included semi-structured interviews with internal stakeholders and program evaluation metrics. We conducted template and matrix analysis and triangulated the qualitative and quantitative data to understand the implementation of ECHO. Results: Between February and May 2022, we conducted 24 virtual interviews with representatives from ECHO components. The main cross-cutting topics that emerged from thematic analysis were collaboration; communication and decision-making; data processes and harmonization; and diversity, equity and inclusion. Both the qualitative and secondary quantitative evaluation data provided insights into the reach, adoption, implementation, and effectiveness of the program. Conclusion: A large, multidisciplinary research consortium such as ECHO has produced conceptual, instrumental, capacity building, and connectivity impact for internal and external stakeholders. Facilitators included infrastructure that supported collaboration and learning, alignment of data processes, and harmonization. Opportunities for enhanced impact include multi-disciplinary, multimethod communication strategies and alignment of research priorities.
 Ethnography Team science implementation science stakeholder engagement qualitative UIOWA OA Agreement

Details

Metrics

24 Record Views
Logo image