Methods Core

The Methods Core will ensure the methodological innovation and rigor of the Penn Innovation in Suicide Prevention Implementation Research (INSPIRE) Center’s studies. The Core will respond to the needs of and leverage the opportunities provided by INSPIRE research to develop, implement, and test new methods to address three major questions at the intersection of suicide prevention and implementation science: 1) What are the best ways to adapt and implement evidence-based suicide prevention interventions in a variety of settings to optimize reach, effectiveness, and sustainability? 2) How do we accurately and efficiently measure fidelity to evidence-based suicide prevention interventions upon scale-up? 3) As we move from research to practice, how do we provide accurate information on associated costs that can be used for system planning? The Methods Core will lead dissemination efforts for these new tools as well as Center research findings, ensuring that INSPIRE becomes a local and national resource to the research, practice, and consumer communities beyond the University of Pennsylvania. Method Core members will be experts in suicide prevention, implementation science, statistics, economics, machine learning, qualitative research, and collaborative design. Methods and models from each of these disciplines will undergird our projects. The Methods Core has four Specific Aims. Aim 1: As a scientific incubator, refine and develop new methods to answer three major challenges in the field of suicide prevention research, including (a) optimizing intervention adaptation and implementation strategy design; (b) developing efficient and effective strategies for fidelity measurement using machine learning; and (c) advancing the science of measuring implementation costs for suicide prevention interventions. Aim 2: Provide centralized state-of-the-science assessment, data management, statistical, and human subject protections support to INSPIRE Projects, Pilot Studies, and subsequent research applications. The Core will ensure rigor and adherence to highest ethical and research standards across all Center research by centralizing Institutional Review Board and Data Safety Monitoring Board review and study design and data analysis resources. The Core will maximize the potential for data pooling and sharing through use of common measures and data harmonization. Aim 3: Disseminate INSPIRE scientific resources. Our research findings will inform both research and practice in suicide prevention; Aim 1 will result in research tools that will be made freely-available to suicide and other researchers. We will leverage national networks, University of Pennsylvania’s communications apparatus, and the INSPIRE website to disseminate these resources widely to multiple sectors. Aim 4: Ensure rigorous evaluation of INSPIRE’s research productivity and impact by providing strategic, methodological, and technical support to the Administrative Core. We will apply quantitative evaluation metrics and qualitative study to optimize evaluation of INSPIRE.