An Examination of Infrastructures for Health Information Dissemination in the United States

Abstract

The U.S. federal government has devoted substantial resources to health promotion and disease prevention research, yet there is currently no systematic published information about the infrastructures through which this research is disseminated to local levels. This article addresses that gapby using a common framework (Dynamic Network) developed by Miles and Snow to examine five national health information networks: the Regional Alcohol and Drug Awareness Resource (RADAR) Network, the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA), the Children’s Safety Network (CSN), the Office on Smoking and Health’s National Tobacco Control Program (NTCP), and the Network: Addressing Collegiate Alcohol and Other Drug Issues (the Network). All of these networks include members with areas of specialized expertise, enabling them to address complex health issues. A single, federally funded entity typically functions as a broker for the networks, facilitating member communication at the national and local levels. Four of the five networks do not fund members but instead rely on a shared commitment to health promotion goals. Finally, each network is experimenting with ways of providing broad information access to their members and thus building local capacity to support healthy behaviors.