DeWorm3 DAC

Funding has been awarded to principal investigator Dr. Arianna Means and co-principal investigator Dr. Judd Walson by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for "DeWorm3 DAC."

Abstract:

The DeWorm3 Project is a series of randomized clinical trials testing the feasibility of interrupting the transmission of soil-transmitted helminths (STH). DeWorm3 will determine what factors affect program ability to delivery mass drug administration (MDA) with high treatment coverage, a necessary precursor for elimination, in order to develop policy guidelines for STH transmission interruption. We have integrated implementation science research questions into the trial to optimize delivery of trial interventions as well as to speed the translation of study evidence into relevant policy and practice.

DeWorm3 implementation science research takes place at baseline (formative research), midline (process research), and endline (summative research). At baseline, DeWorm3 evaluated factors influencing effective launch of community-wide MDA. At midline, factors influencing effective delivery of community-wide MDA with high coverage will be evaluated. And, at endline, best practices and opportunities for scaling community-wide MDA will be investigated.

To address these aims, DeWorm3 uses a mixed-methods approach including stakeholder mapping and network analysis, qualitative data collection via individual interviews and focus groups, structural readiness surveys, process mapping, and economic evaluation methods to assess opportunities to maximize intervention effectiveness, evaluate the efficiency of the intervention relative to the standard-of-care, and identify strategies for sustaining, scaling, and replicating effective components of trial interventions. The purpose of embedding implementation science research into the trial is to provide policy makers and program implementers the evidence needed to inform expanded STH guidelines and to optimize routine programmatic activities.