Using RE-AIM to Implement a Women’s Deployed Health Promotion Program

The long term goal  of this study is to institutionalize a Women’s Deployed Health Promotion Program (WDHPP) for women in an Infantry Divsion. The specific aims are to 1) implement the WDHPP during readiness training and 2) determine the effectiveness of the implementation process in the military community setting utilizing the RE-AIM model. 

This is a longitudinal behavioral intervention study that is designed in accordance with the RE-AIM concepts. RE-AIM evaluates the effectiveness of the program with measures of Reach to the target population, Efficacy of the intervention, Adoption of the program, Implementation of the intervention, and Maintenance of the program. The WDHPP consists of an educational class for female soldiers in their community setting and will be offered to all Division units prior to deployment. Recruitment will occur from organization (unit) level leaders and individual female Soldiers. 

Organizational outcomes include adoption rate, barriers to adoption, and satisfaction of unit leaders. Individual outcomes include behavioral, biological, and quality of life of female Soldiers. Program outcomes include the intervention and costs. Reach will be the percentage and characteristics of at-risk women in the Division who attend the WDHPP. 

Data will be collected at the individual and organizational level. Efficacy of the intervention will be measured by individual feminine hygiene behaviors, genitourinary symptoms, and quality of life during deployment. Data will be collected with a Women’s Feminine Hygiene Assessment tool and the SF-12v2 before the intervention and during deployment. Adoption is the percentage of eligible units that received the WDHPP. Data will be collected at the organizational level. Implementation is evaluated by fidelity of the actual intervention to the proposal and will be measured by research staff during each class.

Costs include materials and personnel. Maintenance is the percentage of units that have incorporated the WDHPP into routine operations at 24 months and individual outcomes at 6 and 12 months.

Final Report is available on NTRL: https://ntrl.ntis.gov/NTRL/dashboard/searchResults/titleDetail/PB2018100...