Using Mixed Methods Research to Promote Culturally Relevant Translational Research

• In Event: Using Mixed Methods in Translational Research: Methodological Advantages and Practical Applications

Abstract

Translational research (TR) focuses on promoting the idea that evidence-based findings should be adopted in practice (e.g., Ivankova, Herbey, & Roussel, in press). Hence, the degree to which findings inform practice and localized decision-making can be conceptualized as a kind of variable that can be studied with an implementation science lens (e.g., Eccles & Mittman, 2006). From a mixed methods perspective, the use of existing research to inform practice can be examined via regression models; translational research can also be understood by studying factors such as stakeholder acceptability, the degree to which findings are seen as being socially valid, and culturally relevant. Such work will typically require interviews, document analyses and observations. This yields a complex set of mixed methods questions and subsequent designs so the purpose of this paper will be to describe the model, Participatory Culture-Specific Intervention Model (PCSIM) (XXX, 2016), to both promote culturally-relevant TR and inform study designs that deal with the degree to which prior findings are accepted, understood, and accounted for (i.e., implementation integrity) within localized practice in any given target culture.

PCISM entails a recursive integration of theory, research and practice in a way that accounts for local cultural norms and understanding, and context. The model also specifies the difference between sustainability (capacity to continue adoption of an intervention) and institutionalization (formal change in policy, practice and resources that ensure an interventions continued use). PCISM use will generally be predicated on the use of mixed methods research across a program of study needed to build local theory and tailoring intervention ideas in ways that promote translational research. PCISM will be demonstrated by providing graphical depictions of the model and why it is best used in the context of programmatic mixed methods research (XXX, 2007). This overview will be followed with descriptions of how PCISM has been used to inform translational work in the United States and other settings such as in Sri Lanka and India.

Our experience with PCISM shows that it can be used to inform culturally-relevant TR but it has so far required the deployment of multidisciplinary teams across years of programmatic study. This experience will prepare the audience to understand the kind of effort that is sometimes needed to bring about change to practice within a culture. But it is also possible that some aspects of the model inform simpler change, such as by working with the strengths, resources and expectations that are already in place in a local setting so as to improve TR. TR represents one of the key purposes of any effort to produce improvements in policy and practice. Such research can be greatly supported by attending to localized culture and context, and PCISM provides a heuristic that can help researchers consider how to best bring about change.

Authors

• John H. Hitchcock, Indiana University - Bloomington

• Bonnie K. Nastasi, Tulane University