Developing Infrastructure to Scale-Up the Med-South Lifestyle Program: A 3-Step Process.

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Implementation Science
• Health Behavior Change

Background:

• Widespread intervention scale-up requires sustainable infrastructure beyond research funding.
• Existing research often neglects the development of workforce and resources for long-term implementation.
• The Med-South Lifestyle Intervention (Med-South) demonstrated effectiveness in improving diet and physical activity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To address the gap in sustaining intervention scale-up by developing necessary infrastructure.
• To create a model for building a sustainable implementation infrastructure post-research funding.

Main Methods:

• A 3-step process was employed: assessing existing infrastructure, identifying adoption determinants, and tailoring scale-up.
• Key infrastructure components included workforce, training curriculum, protocols, data monitoring, and communication systems.
• 170 public health practitioners participated in 3 iterative improvement cycles to refine the infrastructure.

Main Results:

• Practitioners reported high acceptability and confidence in delivering and implementing Med-South.
• 51.8% of engaged practitioners completed all training sessions.
• The developed infrastructure was refined through iterative feedback from public health practitioners.

Conclusions:

• The 3-step process effectively developed infrastructure to sustain intervention scale-up.
• This approach supports the continuation of evidence-based interventions after research funding concludes.
• Findings indicate potential for broader application in public health settings.