Enhancing dissemination though marketing and distribution systems: A vision for public health

The authors realize that the vision of taking a more market-oriented approach to dissemination likely raises more questions than it answers. Who would build and operate such a system? Who would pay for it? Would researchers who have developed and evaluated public health interventions cooperate in sharing their programs and products? What tangible incentives can be created at each step of the process to encourage dissemination and adoption? What would constitute success for such an effort and how would we measure it? All are important questions and worthy of thoughtful answers that match their complexity. Doing so is beyond the scope of this chapter, but ongoing in our work. The authors hope the ideas presented here will stimulate others’ thinking about systems and infrastructure to enhance dissemination, and welcome critiques, refinement, and additions to our proposed model.