EPPEC Technical Assistance
The Technical Assistance (TA) team at EPPEC addresses the information and training needs of the demonstration sites in the areas of IRB, Evaluation, and Intervention Implementation.
A specific aim of the EPPEC technical assistance plan is to conduct ongoing needs assessment on a site-by-site basis and to provide timely and direct feedback and relevant, accessible, and individually tailored technical assistance on issues such as:
• IRB protocol development
• Evaluation capacity, including participation in the multi-site evaluation and site specific evaluation
• Intervention implementation
• Quality assurance and fidelity measurement of site interventions
• Building capacity through skills-building consultation and training in these areas as needed.
Site Liaisons
EPPEC has assigned a Site Liaison to each demonstration site. The Liaisons provide individualized consultations and skill-building on the topics above. Technical assistance is provided as sites identify their TA and training needs related to the implementation of the demonstration project. In addition to site-initiated requests for TA, Site Liaisons have regular and ongoing contact with the sites through regularly scheduled conference calls, email, and telephone.
Training and Support
Early in the first year of the study, EPPEC hosted a hands-on training at UCSF for all site data managers. This training covered all the procedures needed to productively follow data entry, transmission, tracking, and cleaning procedures. In addition to the training, data management staff received training materials to bring back to their respective clinic sites for other staff to review.
EPPEC also holds affinity group conference calls with the 15 demonstration sites to address specific study-related issues such as recruitment, data management, project management, and intervention delivery.
EPPEC also provides technical assistance to sites during semi-annual Grantee Meetings during which information is exchanged regarding study design, intervention and evaluation, educational presentations are provided, and project procedures and administrative issues are addressed.
EPPEC has established procedures for routine evaluation of the technical assistance services provided to grantees. Response time and appropriateness and effectiveness of technical assistance are measured.