Att 7c - FAQ

CPPW Case Study Frequently Asked Questions for CPPW/ACA Sites

Why is CDC conducting a case study for the CPPW effort?	The underlying logic of the CPPW effort in both communities and states is that effective MAPPS strategies will create supportive policies, systems, and environments, which, in time, will drive risk behavior changes which are related to chronic disease health outcomes. Although the long-range intent of the effort is to drive risk behavior changes related to chronic disease outcomes, little change in these outcomes is expected during the 24-month funded period for CPPW. The case study evaluation effort will focus on the effectiveness of implementation of the MAPPS strategies and the degree to which these have resulted in the desired policy, systems, and environmental changes.
How was my community selected?	The case study sites were selected using a variety of selection criteria that included a mix of state or community characteristics related to population density, geographic region, and targeted population, as well as characteristics such as MAPPS strategies implemented and program organization. Input provided by CDC Project Officers was included in the decision making process.
How will evaluation information be collected?	The case study will involve two 3-4 day site visits to your community. During these visits, staff from the Research Triangle Institute (RTI) will conduct semi-structured individual interviews with approximately 20 key informants at each CPPW- or Affordable Care Act funded site. The interviews will vary in length but will average between 30 minutes and 2 hours in duration, depending on the role and responsibilities of the interview participant. RTI is CDC’s data collection contractor for this project.
How will interview participants be selected?	We hope to obtain a variety of perspectives by conducting interviews with project management, project staff, community partners, Leadership Team members, and policy makers or community decision makers.
Is participation required?	Selected sites are required to participate in the case study evaluation, however, individuals will participate in the interviews on a voluntary basis.

What will our involvement entail?	We ask you to work closely with RTI staff to identify candidates for participation in the interviews at your site. RTI will provide planning tools and call support to help you do this. We want to ensure that the visits and interviews are scheduled at times that do not interfere with your community program activities.
When will the case studies be conducted?	The first 3-4 day site visit will occur sometime between November 2010 and May 2011, and the second visit will occur between November 2011 and March 2012. These visits will be preceded by a planning call with key members of your administrative team. For Affordable Care Act funded sites, site visits will be conducted sometime between May 2011 and August 2011 and the second visit will occur between July 2012 and September 2012.
How will the findings be analyzed?	After each site visit, the data collected will be analyzed, along with information gathered from key documents such as your original funding application and monthly call reports generated by your CDC Project Officer. RTI will create a brief site summary of key experiences and lessons learned. Each site will have an opportunity to review their summary before it is finalized. Finally, after each round of site visits, the RTI team will conduct more in-depth cross site analyses to identify patterns across sites, including contextual barriers or facilitators to implementation.
How will the findings be shared?	After the second site visit, in addition to the site summary, enhanced case study reports will be developed for 12 case study sites. The enhanced case study reports will be practitioner focused and will provide more detailed information about how CPPW/ACA communities have implemented policy, systems and environmental changes. The enhanced case study reports are being developed so that other communities and states can replicate and tailor interventions to their localities and learn from the challenges and experiences of the CPPW/ACA sites. As with the brief site summaries, each site involved will have an opportunity to review its enhanced case study report before it is finalized.
What are the next steps?	In the next few weeks, you will be contacted by a member of the RTI case study team to begin discussing and scheduling the first site visit to your community. If you have any questions or concerns about your involvement in the case study, please feel free to contact your CDC Project Officer.