Creating Locally Relevant Health Solutions with the Appreciative Inquiry and Boot Camp Translation Method [Methods Study], Colorado, 2013-2018

To address health problems in communities, healthcare providers usually look at evidence from studies about what has worked elsewhere. But sometimes these solutions don't fit local needs. A process called Boot Camp Translation, or BCT, brings community members and researchers together to look at research evidence and decide how to use it locally. BCT groups turn evidence into messages that make sense in their communities.
When no evidence exists, one way to find answers is to look for local stories of people who have overcome problems. These stories can provide ideas that other people can use to solve similar problems. Appreciative Inquiry, or AI, is a way to collect stories about how to overcome problems.
In this study, the research team combined AI and BCT in five communities around Colorado to find and share local solutions to health problems. Each community worked on a different health problem, such as getting mental health care or managing pain. The team wanted to identify lessons that other research teams can use.