Dissemination in Extension: Health Specialists’ Information Sources and Channels for Health Promotion Programming

Thomas E. Strayer (), Laura E. Balis, NithyaPriya S. Ramalingam and Samantha M. Harden
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Thomas E. Strayer: Center for Quality Aging, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37208, USA
Laura E. Balis: Human Nutrition, Food, and Exercise, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24060, USA
NithyaPriya S. Ramalingam: Human Nutrition, Food, and Exercise, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24060, USA
Samantha M. Harden: Human Nutrition, Food, and Exercise, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24060, USA

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 24, 1-13

Abstract: In the National Cooperative Extension System (herein: Extension), state-level specialists serve as key intermediaries between research, educators, and the community members they serve. There is a need to understand information seeking and sharing practices (i.e., dissemination) among specialists to increase the adoption of evidence-based health promotion programs. Specialists ( N = 94) across 47 states were identified and invited to participate in this mixed methods study. A one-way ANOVA with Bonferroni corrections was used to analyze survey data. Data collected through semi-structured interviews were analyzed using an immersion crystallization approach. Forty-seven health specialists completed the survey representing 31 eligible states (65%) and were predominately female (89%), Caucasian (70%), had a doctorate (62%), and were employed within Extension for 10.2 + 9.7 years. The information sources used most frequently were academic journals and other specialists, and most used email and online meetings to communicate. Qualitative findings support the use of other specialists as a primary source of information and indicate specialists’ desire for an on-demand, bi-directional, online national repository of Extension programs. This repository would facilitate the dissemination of evidence-based programming across the system and reduce program duplication as well as information burden on county-based educators.

Keywords: Cooperative Extension; health promotion; dissemination; diffusion of innovations; mixed-methods; translational science (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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