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This paper examines federal mechanisms that support program developers and researchers in disseminating effective interventions for public benefit. The purpose of this paper is not to discuss the dissemination of intervention research (i.e., how to inform stakeholders about research findings), nor is it intended to discuss the research of intervention dissemination (i.e., what is the best approach to disseminate an intervention). Rather, the paper discusses the challenges specific to finding pathways to disseminate an intervention and describes federal opportunities to support intervention dissemination. Three specific mechanisms are discussed: Federal Registries of Evidence-Based Programs, the Tiered Evidence Grant Programs, and the Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) and the Small Technology Transfer Research (STTR) programs. The article presents some limitations associated with federal mechanisms for dissemination of effective interventions, but is intended to highlight current and future opportunities they may offer.

Mental health professionals have recently begun to provide supportive services to families of the mentally ill. In assisting family members who are either living with or caring for a relative with mental illness, support programs may provide a variety of services, including respite care, peer support groups, educational workshops, supportive counseling, and service linkage. While an important step forward, professional family support programs remain rare, serving only limited areas. This article describes a multisite network of professional family support programs funded by the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health during the late 1980s. A history and description of the demonstration project is provided, as is an overview of findings from a two-year project evaluation. Evaluation results indicate program participation to be associated with a number of favorable family outcomes, including reduced levels of family stress and burden. While these findings suggest program expansion is warranted, qualitative findings point to several noteworthy implementational difficulties experienced by support services, many of them flowing from ambiguities surrounding the concept of “family support” as a service philosophy and model of practice.

This chapter presents issues associated with the definition of physical activity, and potential ways these definitional issues can help fill gaps in our knowledge about physical activity as an intervention strategy to address public health problems. Why does this matter? Physical activity, including exercise, sport, recreation, play, and its many other manifestations, is generally thought to be a positive thing. This is true in popular culture and also in much scientific literature. However, while the scientific evidence is compelling, and has even led to the development of national guidelines for public participation in physical activity, it is rare for experts to clarify what types of activity bring the most benefit. This chapter explores the current base of knowledge and suggests ways that future scientific studies can help clarify these uncertainties.