ABSTRACT

MSPH-14-0007.0 This case looks at the challenges of adhering to best scientific research practices when operating in the real world. The national Experience Corps (EC) program brings senior citizens to work as volunteers in elementary schools—to the benefit of both seniors and children. But it has not yet had a rigorous evaluation—one that would argue for aggressive expansion. In 2005, Linda Fried, director of the Center on Aging and Health (COAH) at Johns Hopkins University, wants to submit a proposal to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to fund a five-year, randomized controlled trial (RCT) of the Baltimore chapter of Experience Corps. But the Greater Homewood Community Corporation (GHCC), which operates Experience Corps in Baltimore, has objections—most of them political—to some of the requirements for an RCT.

Ask students to consider what public health researchers face when a “control” group in a scientific trial is real schools, with real students and volunteers. What about the potential costs to those individuals and institutions of being excluded from the beneficial intervention, in this case Experience Corps? How can public health programs achieve scientific legitimacy without losing political and community support? Look also at the history of EC and what it takes to build a successful, national public health program. What elements contribute to viability? What are the obstacles and how can they be anticipated and circumvented? Who are the stakeholders and can their interests be balanced? Students should gain a keen understanding of the mechanics and strategies for creating a public health program, as well as how to build partnerships among researchers, practitioners and community groups.

Use this case in a class/course about community-based research, public health studies (especially randomized controlled trials), and academic/non-profit partnerships. It can also complement any course that looks at public health and public education reform in the US.

Credits:

This case was written by Laura Moustakerski for the Case Consortium @ Columbia and the Mailman School of Public Health. (0514)

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