The Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration project: a team approach for supporting a multisite, multisector intervention

Abstract

Background: Comprehensive multisector, multilevel approaches are needed to address childhood obesity. This article introduces the structure of a multidisciplinary team approach used to support and guide the multisite, multisector interventions implemented as part of the Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration (CORD) project. This article will describe the function, roles, and lessons learned from the CDC-CORD approach to project management.

Methods: The CORD project works across multisectors and multilevels in three demonstration communities. Working with principal investigators and their research teams who are engaging multiple stakeholder groups, including community organizations, schools and child care centers, health departments, and healthcare providers, can be a complex endeavor. To best support the community-based research project, scientific and programmatic expertise in a wide range of areas was required. The team was configured based on the skill sets needed to interact with the various levels of staff working with the project.

Conclusions: By thoughtful development of the team and processes, an efficient system for supporting the multisite, multisector intervention project sites was developed. The team approach will be formally evaluated at the end of the project period.

Figure 1.

The Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration (CORD) project was designed to have a CDC-CORD team that provides scientific, evaluation, and management support to the grantees. The grantees include an evaluation grantee, which conducts an overall evaluation of the three unique multisector, multilevel (MSML) interventions being conducted by the demonstration site grantees.