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Long-term collaborations among researchers, staff and volunteers in community-based agencies, staff in institutional settings, and health advocates present challenges. Each group has different missions, procedures, attributes, and rewards. This article reviews areas of potential conflict and suggests strategies for coping with these challenges. During the replication of five effective HIV prevention interventions, strategies for maintaining mutually beneficial collaborations included selecting agencies with infrastructures that could support research-based interventions; obtaining letters of understanding that clarified roles, responsibilities, and time frames; and setting training schedules with opportunities for observing, practicing, becoming invested in, and repeatedly implementing the intervention. The process of implementing interventions highlighted educating funders of research and public health services about (a) the costs of disseminating interventions, (b) the need for innovation to new modalities and theories for delivering effective interventions, and (c) adopting strategies of marketing research and quality engineering when designing interventions.

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Many community-based organizations and health departments want to implement HIV prevention interventions with scientifically demonstrated effectiveness. The Replicating Effective Programs (REP) project supported researchers in developing intervention packages designed to help prevention partners replicate effective programs in their settings. Intervention packages convey the intervention's foundation, components, and methods and are one part of a larger system needed to transfer research-based HIV prevention technology to service providers. Implementation packages were developed using a multistage process. The original researchers drafted the materials, advisory groups reviewed the packages, and adopting agencies used the materials in trial runs. The advisory groups and adopting agencies recommended extensive use of examples, thorough explanations about the rationale for each intervention component, explicit representation of people of color in the materials, clear statements about the intended audience(s), and an easy-to-use and visually appealing format. Packages were revised based on these recommendations and the outcomes of the trial runs.

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Effective orientation and training are fundamental to the successful implementation of any intervention because they communicate the critical first impressions of the intervention and the skills needed to conduct it. When research-based HIV prevention interventions are translated into practice, issues arise that require adaptation and expansion of the basic functions of orientation and training. This article identifies some of these issues by drawing on the experience of researchers in the Replicating Effective Programs (REP) project. The purpose, structure, and instructional approach of the orientation and training for administrators, staff, and volunteers are described in depth for one project, with comparisons and additional examples from others. Based on these descriptions, critical issues for orientation and training for replication are presented. These include extending orientation and training to a broad audience within the adopting agency, allocating sufficient time to ensure understanding of the intervention, and planning for staff turnover.

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This article examines the role of technical assistance (TA) in supporting the replication of proven HIV interventions. A case study of the replication of the VOICES/VOCES intervention elucidates the level and types of TA provided to support new users through the adoption process. TA included help in garnering administrative support, identifying target audiences, recruiting groups for sessions, maintaining fidelity to the intervention's core elements, tailoring the intervention to meet clients' needs, strengthening staff members' facilitation skills, troubleshooting challenges, and devising strategies to sustain the intervention. Two to four hours per month of TA were provided to each agency adopting the intervention, at an estimated monthly cost of $206 to $412. Findings illustrate how TA supports replication by establishing a conversation between the researcher TA providers experienced with the intervention and new users. This communication helps preserve key program elements and contributes to ongoing refinement of the intervention.

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