A Word from the Director

Smarter Dissemination

I hope you will recall from previous communications that the NCDDR does not consider the process of dissemination to be the simple transport of information from Point A to Point B. The NCDDR's view of the purpose of any dissemination effort is utilization by specific targeted audiences. Accomplishing this goal is often a challenge and our ability to accomplish it will be enhanced by borrowing and applying concepts from social marketing research literature.

NIDRR grantees can often envision potential outreach goals and applications of research-based information that increase the scope of information to be disseminated and the range of audiences who may benefit from the information. Frequently, we dismiss these thoughts or catalog them as something we may return to at some non-specific point in the future. We do this because we convince ourselves that we don't have the time, human resources, or funding to accomplish them. Most of the time, we do this without the benefit of any supporting data – simply, our personal perceptions.

As NIDRR grantees strive to accomplish more while maintaining high levels of quality, the NCDDR recognizes that we need to be smarter in our pursuit of dissemination and utilization outcomes. One way we can pursue "smarter dissemination" is by knowing more about social marketing concepts and principles. Being able to couch clear marketing questions and collect information to answer them, will help us go about our outreach efforts – now and in the future – in a more skillful way. Indeed, to an ever-increasing degree, the value of our work is being measured in terms of how well and how extensively it is being used or applied by others.

To facilitate our shared goal of smarter dissemination, this issue of The Research Exchange expands on the topic of social marketing research. NCDDR staff has attempted to highlight tools and strategies that many NIDRR grantees know and currently use. Enlarging the use of these tools to meet selected social marketing information needs is within the existing capability of most NIDRR grantees. Integrating marketing information into our dissemination efforts will expand options and increase our overall success in outreach.

John D. Westbrook, Ph.D.
Director, NCDDR

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