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. 2021 May 20;31(Suppl 1):375-388.
doi: 10.18865/ed.31.S1.375. eCollection 2021.

Applying a Race(ism)-Conscious Adaptation of the CFIR Framework to Understand Implementation of a School-Based Equity-Oriented Intervention

Michele Allen  1 , April Wilhelm  1 , Luis Enrique Ortega  2 , Shannon Pergament  2 , Nicole Bates  3 , Brooke Cunningham  1
Affiliations

Applying a Race(ism)-Conscious Adaptation of the CFIR Framework to Understand Implementation of a School-Based Equity-Oriented Intervention

Michele Allen et al. Ethn Dis. .

Abstract

Objectives: To use the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) adapted to a race-conscious frame to understand ways that structural racism interacts with intervention implementation and uptake within an equity-oriented trial designed to enhance student-school connectedness.

Design: Secondary analysis of qualitative implementation data from Project TRUST (Training for Resiliency in Urban Students and Teachers), a hybrid effectiveness-implementation, community-based participatory intervention.

Setting: Ten schools across one urban school district.

Methods: We analyzed qualitative observational field notes, youth and parent researcher reflections, and semi-structured interviews with community-academic researchers and school-based partners within CFIR constructs based on framing questions using a Public Health Critical Race Praxis approach.

Results: Within most CFIR constructs and sub-constructs, we identified barriers to implementation uptake not previously recognized using standard race-neutral definitions. Themes that crossed constructs included: 1) Leaders' willingness to examine Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) student and parent experiences of school discrimination and marginalization had a cascading influence on multiple factors related to implementation uptake; 2) The race/ethnicity of the principals was related to intervention engagement and intervention uptake, particularly at the extremes, but the relationship was complex; 3) External change agents from BIPOC communities facilitated intervention uptake in indirect but significant ways; 4) Highly networked implementation champions had the ability to enhance commitment to intervention uptake; however, perceptions of these individuals and the degree to which they were networked was highly racialized.

Conclusions: Equity-oriented interventions should consider structural racism within the CFIR model to better understand intervention uptake.

Keywords: Health Disparities; Implementation Science; School Connectedness.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: None declared.

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