Connections Lab: a case study exploring a web-based innovation designed to advance shared risk and protective factor approaches to preventing injuries and violence.

BACKGROUND: Injuries and violence share many of the same risk and protective factors, which are rooted in the social determinants of health (SDOH) and the social determinants of equity. Addressing shared risk and protective factors (SRPFs)-common factors that make it more or less likely that a population will experience injuries or violence-is critical prevention efforts. The Safe States Alliance created the Connections Lab-a suite of web-based resources to help injury and violence prevention public health practitioners and their partners understand, describe, implement and evaluate SRPF approaches. DESIGN: A mixed-methods approach using the Diffusion of Innovation Theory assessed how the Connections Lab influenced users' knowledge, abilities and work related to SRPF approaches. A web-based survey was administered to 234 participants in April-May 2021. Semistructured virtual group discussions were conducted with a subset of 15 survey respondents who volunteered to participate. RESULTS: The case study revealed three key findings. The Connections Lab: was diffused among practitioners across sectors within and outside of public health; it increased practitioners' perceived proficiency across 10 skill sets related to describing, planning, implementing and evaluating SRPF approaches; and it increased understanding of the importance of upstream and structural drivers of injuries and violence. CONCLUSION: The Connections Lab was a critical first step to expand the definition of SRPF approaches, connect SRPFs to concepts of equity and the SDOH, and provide strategies for engaging partners in public health and across other sectors in SRPF approaches.

A national landscape: Injury and violence prevention health equity scan findings and implications for the field of practice.

INTRODUCTION: Many federal and national partners have a renewed commitment to addressing health equity and racial equity as a public health issue of concern. These are especially important issues in addressing many injury and violence prevention (IVP) topic areas. In developing and updating approaches to address injury and violence-related health and racial equity challenges, CDC and Safe States Alliance wanted to better understand how partners in the field are already approaching these issues. An environmental scan was conducted to explore how IVP professionals advance health equity and racial equity in their programmatic work. METHODS: Data collection occurred from multiple sources including focus groups and surveys. Health equity and racial equity-related questions were added to the Safe States Member Survey: Evaluating the Impact of COVID-19 on the IVP Workforce and Assessing Equity Initiative (COVID Impact and Equity Survey). An analysis of secondary data sources was conducted through ongoing evaluation initiatives at Safe States Alliance (the COVID Impact Evaluation and Connections Lab Evaluation Focus Groups). CONCLUSIONS: Successes and challenges were identified through the environmental scan that primarily fell into three categories: (1) Injury and Violence Prevention Strategies and Programs, (2) Using IVP Data to Inform Equity Approaches, (3) Equity Approaches in IVP Infrastructure. Practical Applications: Practical applications were identified that can be supported at the local, state, and federal/national level and are specific to the areas of IVP strategies and programs, IVP data and surveillance, and IVP organizational infrastructure. A few examples include: (1) Ensuring decision-making power and ownership of programs is shared between community partners and funders; (2) Working with national/federal surveillance system partners to ensure demographic fields/variables are improved to identify disparities and inequities; (3) Development of an "Injury and Violence Prevention Equity Institute" to better prepare IVP professionals to address health and racial equity challenges.