Development of a dissemination and implementation framework for an adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) prevention program in a rural community setting

The purpose of this article is to describe how Dissemination and Implementation (D&I) science approaches can be applied to better understand and evaluate community ACEs prevention programs. While the D&I science research base for ACEs screening and intervention in clinical settings is growing, limited D&I research exists related to ACEs screening and prevention efforts in community settings, like early childhood education (ECE) settings, which are ideal for the application of D&I research because they are common, real-world settings where ACEs and other health-promoting interventions are often implemented. This article describes a proposed D&I framework for a community-engaged ACEs prevention program implemented in 15 rural ECE settings. The proposed framework was applied to previously collected qualitative data from 37 interviews with community members to understand how well the framework captured relevant community context for an ACEs prevention intervention. Themes from the interviews were compared with relevant domains and constructs within the D&I framework. Overall, the themes aligned with and supported the framework. This framework, specific to ACEs prevention research in the ECE setting, can help inform the implementation and evaluation of future ACEs interventions in community settings.