Experience Corps Trial: Monitoring Training and Intervention Fidelity

描述（由申请人提供）：Experience Corps （EC）是一个以社区为基础的老年人健康促进模式，嵌入了一个社会参与项目，旨在改善公立小学儿童的学业和行为结果。在P01资助下，我们正在进行一项为期5年的随机对照有效性试验（RCT），以评估该计划对老年人健康和功能的影响，并评估该计划对学校和儿童的影响。这一竞争性补充建议实施一项研究，以监测和提高EC程序的保真度，这是我们最初P01申请的审稿人所建议的。通过提出的保真度研究收集的数据将允许对干预保真度进行实证评估，作为RCT结果评估的一部分。迄今为止，行政补充拨款用于监测培训和干预措施的选定方面在01学年的初步实施情况；并开始开发数据输入/管理应用程序，并监控02年的控制。目前的申请概述了一个正式的计划，以在整个试验过程中监控和提高实施的保真度，遵循Bellg， Borrelli等人（2004）提出的“最佳实践”建议。建议的保真度监测包括三个部分：(1)监测年长成人志愿者入职前接受的培训以及入职后接受的在职培训和进修培训，以及监测学校中有教统会志愿者的教统会现场协调员、教师和校长的培训；(2)监测志愿者在学校进行的教学活动（即实际干预活动本身），同时监测对照活动；(3)研究可能影响整体项目实施和随机对照试验结果的组织和情境因素。我们亦建议监察干预及管制学校的校长、教师及行政人员担任教统或非教统学校的经验。总而言之，这一竞争性补充的具体目标是扩大现有的p01资助的数据收集，包括对EC-RCT实施水平的评估和分析。这些数据将提供额外的关键信息——目前p01资助的数据收集中缺失的信息——关于项目实施的保真度，从而不仅可以评估（和修改）可能影响培训/干预保真度的因素，还可以评估（和修改）与p01资助的EC-RCT的主要结果相关的积极（或消极）结果的可能原因。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The Experience Corps (EC) is a community-based, health promotion model for older adults, embedded in a social engagement program designed to improve academic and behavioral outcomes of children in public elementary schools. With P01 funding we are conducting a 5-year randomized controlled effectiveness trial (RCT) of the impact of this program on older adults' health and function, as well as assessing the program's impact on schools and children. This competitive supplement proposes implementation of a study to monitor and improve the fidelity of the EC program, as recommended by the reviewers of our original P01 application. Data collected through this proposed fidelity study will allow for empirical evaluation of intervention fidelity as part of the evaluation of RCT findings. To date, administrative supplements provided funding to monitor the initial implementation of selected aspects of the training and intervention during Yr 01; and to begin developing data entry/management applications and monitor the controls in Yr 02. The current application outlines a formal plan to monitor and enhance implementation fidelity throughout the course of the trial, following "best practice" recommendations set forth by Bellg, Borrelli et al. (2004). Proposed fidelity monitoring includes three components - (1) monitoring the training that older adult volunteers receive before they are placed in the schools and in-service training and refresher training after they are placed in the schools, as well as monitoring training for EC site coordinators, teachers, and principals who have EC volunteers in their schools; (2) monitoring the on-going EC activities of the volunteers in the schools (i.e., the actual intervention itself) along with parallel monitoring of control activities; and (3) studying the organizational and contextual factors that may impact overall program implementation and RCT outcomes. We also propose to monitor the experience of principals, teachers, and administrative staff in intervention and control schools of serving as an EC or non-EC school. In sum, the specific aims of this competitive supplement are to augment existing, P01-funded data collection to include assessment and analysis of the level of implementation of the EC-RCT. These data will provide additional crucial information - missing from current P01-funded data collection - about fidelity of program implementation, thereby allowing for evaluation (and modification) of not only factors that may impact the fidelity of training/intervention, but also of possible reasons for positive (or negative) findings with respect to the P01-funded EC-RCT's primary outcomes.