Five Translational Design Principles for Communicating Research to Practice in Public Health

Translational products can help bridge the gap between research and practice by sharing scientific evidence in ways that non-academic audiences find accessible and useful. Here we present five translational design principles for dissemination of research evidence to public health practitioners and partners. The result of more than two decades of work in the development, production, revision, and continuous improvement of the Best Practices User Guides and supplemental reports, we illustrate the principles here using Tobacco Where You Live: Native Communities, a guide for tobacco prevention and control for American Indian and Alaska Native groups and their public health partners. The team developed the translational design principles through a multi-phase process: (1) conducting a multi-state evaluation and national advisory workgroup to identify translational features for communicating evidence, (2) applying findings to develop a set of translational products, CDC's Best Practices User Guides and Tobacco Where You Live Supplements, and (3) evaluating product quality through a national survey. Users find the evidence-based guides helpful, easy to understand, and actionable. The five principles contend that translational products should: (1) stem from evidence-informed sources, (2) include actionable information, (3) have a modular structure, (4) use language for an understandable delivery, and (5) come in accessible formats. Though the User Guides and the example here address tobacco use, researchers and practitioners can use the translational design principles to communicate evidence for various public health challenges and opportunities. Broad applications of the principles can help to increase intervention fidelity and the impact of public health evidence.