HARC - Home Visiting's National R&D Platform

Annotation

Home visiting's (HV) role in promoting health equity requires a diverse re-search workforce with the motivation capability and opportunity to collaborate in innovative research to learn what interventions work best for which families in which contexts why and how. It also requires inclusive partnerships to apply the resulting new knowledge by addressing persistent and emerging issues and by taking effective efficient interventions and systems improvements to scale. The Home Visiting Applied Research Collaborative (HARC) is a research and development platform for translational research to accomplish this. The project's goal is to promote research to advance the role of HV and the early childhood system of care to achieve health equity through greater precision in HV and related services.

Problem

HV is a strategy to promote child outcomes by improving parenting and family functioning. The prevailing paradigm has used traditional RCTs to estimate average effects of full HV models on long-term outcomes. This paradigm cannot inform how to overcome persistent challenges such as small average effect sizes and poor family engagement. The project shifts the HV paradigm to focus on interventions within HV at a granular level. It shifts the re-search paradigm to incorporate Breakthrough Impact Research methods such as co-creation and strategies to identify what works for whom. True co-creation requires embracing principles of diversity equity and inclusion in working with all who have an interest in HV.

Purpose

The purpose of this project is to support a practice-based research network that engages in scientific collaboration and innovative research to strengthen the evidence and the capacity of HV programs to improve family health well-being and equity in access to services and family and community outcomes.

Goals and objectives

We will pursue six objectives: 1. Develop and maintain a practice-based research network; 2. Advance the use of innovative research methods; 3. Promote the use of data sharing and interoperability; 4. Respond to emerging priorities in the field; 5. Mentor the next generation of early childhood researchers with a focus on diversity; and 6. Expand the field of precision home visiting.

Methodology

Across all objectives we will bring together diverse perspectives to develop and implement action plans provide technical assistance and disseminate results and products widely. We will expand existing collaborations to include more representation of non-traditional research partners such as families communities and front-line staff. To achieve objectives we will: showcase membership diversity; expand HARC membership and introduce new strategies to increase member engagement; use a Delphi Process to set priorities in promoting innovative methods; engage experts to build capability in using innovative methods; establish a data collaborative and data sharing 'Use Case' to demonstrate workflow and identify data synergies and gaps; identify and examine emerging priorities via short HARC-Beat surveys expanded surveys or more rigorous study; refine strategies and leverage HARC resources and relationships to recruit and support research mentors to provide cohort-based mentoring to re-searchers from underrepresented groups; outreach to build and respond to precision HV funding opportunities; surveil and share new HV research literature; and showcase exemplary precision HV research.