Abstract :
Objective: To describe the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) sponsored Disparities Elimination through Coordinated Interventions to Prevent and Control Heart and Lung Disease (DECIPHeR) Alliance to support late-stage implementation research aimed at reducing disparities in communities with high burdens of cardiovascular and/or pulmonary disease. Study Setting: NHBLI funded seven DECIPHeR studies and a Coordinating Center. Projects target high-risk diverse populations including racial and ethnic minorities, urban, rural, and low-income communities, disadvantaged children, and persons with serious mental illness. Two projects address multiple cardiovascular risk factors, three focus on hypertension, one on tobacco use, and one on pediatric asthma. Study Design: The initial phase supports planning activities for sustainable uptake of evidence-based interventions in targeted communities. The second phase tests late-stage evidence-based implementation strategies. Data Collection/Extraction Methods: Not applicable. Principal Findings: We provide an overview of the DECIPHeR Alliance and individual study designs, populations, and settings, implementation strategies, interventions, and outcomes. We describe the Alliance's organizational structure, designed to promote cross-center partnership and collaboration. Conclusions: The DECIPHeR Alliance represents an ambitious national effort to develop sustainable implementation of interventions to achieve cardiovascular and pulmonary health equity. KEYWORDS cardiovascular disease, community participation, health equity, implementation science, pulmonary disease What is known on this topic * Marked disparities in heart and lung health exist and persist in the United States across race, ethnicity, sex and/or gender, geography, socioeconomic status, and disability status. * To narrow these gaps and achieve health equity for heart and lung diseases, we need to understand barriers and facilitators to interventions that work and how to implement and sustain them in the community. * The National Heart Lung and Blood Institute sponsored the creation of the Disparities Elimination through Coordinated Interventions to Prevent and Control Heart and Lung Disease (DECIPHeR) Alliance to support research to reduce disparities in communities with high burdens of heart and/or lung disease. What this study adds * We describe the DECIPHeR Alliance including the seven research projects and a coordinating center to bring the project teams together for the highest impact to narrow health disparities.