The objective of this proposal is to determine what knowledge and skills are needed in order for SHARP personnel to implement new sexual assault and harassment prevention programs using the model selected by the Department of Defense, Getting To Outcomes (GTO).

The rationale for this proposal is that human resources are a key component of capacity to implement a sexual assault prevention program. However, there is currently limited attention to the knowledge and skills needed by personnel in the U.S. Army Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention (SHARP) program, including Battalion Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs) who have SHARP assigned as a collateral duty, and the Garrison- and Installation-level SHARP officers and staff who support those NCOs. We hypothesize that supplementing the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) program with military-specific knowledge and skills will result in enhanced adoption, implementation, and sustainability of evidence-based sexual assault and harassment programs. For example, SHARP personnel need training to (1) assess the fit of a program with the unit context, (2) assess the capacity of a unit to implement the program, (3) build relationships and create a supportive environment for change, (4) help to change the system and the structures and processes that support it, (5) transfer knowledge and skills and create infrastructure support for ongoing learning, (6) plan and lead change efforts, and (7) create infrastructure for program monitoring.

Short Term Outcomes: We will use individual interviews with SHARP personnel (N=12-24) to identify their gaps in knowledge and skills needed to apply the GTO model. We hypothesize that SHARP personnel will report that their current knowledge and skills are not sufficient to support implementation of an evidence-based sexual assault and harassment prevention program. We will then use a second round of individual interviews (N=12-24) to determine which gaps in knowledge and skills are best filled at the Installation, Garrison, and Battalion levels. The product of this aim will be preliminary training modules for implementation facilitation within the GTO model. These training modules will be designed to fit into the VA Behavioral Health QUERI facilitation training (Kirchner, Smith, & Dollar, 2017) but will be specific to the GTO model and target knowledge and skills for Installation-, Garrison-, and Battalion-level SHARP personnel.

Impact and Outcomes: Prior research in the VA and elsewhere indicates that successful implementation at local sites is challenging and is particularly challenging in large, complex systems such as the U.S. Army. This proposal presents the opportunity to carefully consider how SHARP personnel should be trained to support the implementation of evidence-based sexual assault and prevention programs. The proposed training would create a strong human resource foundation for successful program implementation. The preliminary training modules developed through this project will reduce the time needed to develop an effective implementation training program for the U.S. Army that has the potential to be scaled across the U.S. military. The current proposal uses innovative implementation science principles to help DoD strengthen local capability to implement evidence-based sexual assault and harassment prevention programs.