Linking Research to Practice

Abstract

While most agree on the need for empirical evidence in determining best practice standards, little consensus exists on how best to build an effective, ongoing linkage between research and practice. This article examines how one prevention effort has sought to better integrate research and practice through the promotion of diversified research methodologies and structures designed to insure the ongoing exchange of empirical evidence and clinical practice. Healthy Families America (HFA) is a national initiative to develop the infrastructure necessary to sustain a universal support system for all new parents. Initiated in 1992 by the National Committee to Prevent Child Abuse (NCPCA), the program is grounded in a belief that the most effective prevention efforts are those which are shaped by empirical realities and an ongoing commitment to using research to shape program development. The article begins with an overall discussion of HFA's theoretical framework and the role of research in its initial conceptualization. It then reviews emerging research on HFA's home visitation component and how these findings compare to other evaluation efforts examining programs and policies designed to enhance child development and parental capacity. The article concludes with the implications of both the findings and the HFA planning approach on developing empirically sound and clinically effective future prevention initiatives.