The 2012 Congressional appropriations included the requirement that OAA Title IIID funding, under Section 361 of the OAA, be used only for disease prevention and health promotion programs that have been demonstrated through rigorous evaluation to be evidence-based. The Administration for Community Living (ACL) has set criteria for evidence-based health promotion programs to ensure this requirement is met.
How Programs Meet Evidence-Based Requirements
ACL has provided two options for determining if a program meets evidence-based requirements and may therefore be funded through OAA Title IIID.
Option One:
The program meets requirements of ACL’s evidence-based program definition:
- Demonstrated through evaluation to be effective for improving the health and well-being or reducing disease, disability and/or injury among older adults; and
- Proven effective with older adult population, using Experimental or Quasi-Experimental Design1; and
- Research results published in a peer-review journal; and
- Fully translated in one or more community site(s); and
- Includes developed dissemination products that are available to the public
1 Experimental design uses random assignment and a control group. Quasi-experimental design does not use random assignment.
2 For purposes of the Title IIID definitions, being "fully translated in one or more community sites" means that the evidence-based program in question has been carried out at the community level (with fidelity to the published research) at least once before. Only programs that have been shown to be effective within a real-world community setting should be considered.
Option Two:
The program is considered to be an "evidence-based program" by any operating division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and is shown to be effective and appropriate for older adults.
How to Determine if a Program is Approved for Title IIID
Information on approved Title IIID Health Promotion - Evidence-Based programs is found on the National Council on Aging (NCOA) website.
- For a list of current approved EBPs for Title IIID, click on the NCOA link and choose "Download the spreadsheet of approved programs". The NCOA website also provides a searchable list of EBPs and programs by category (fall prevention, etc.).
- The programs included in the spreadsheet have been approved through the EBP Review process. Learn more about the review process at https://www.ncoa.org/article/apply-to-become-an-evidence-based-program.
- Note: A program does not need to be included in the NCOA list to be considered an EBP. Programs meeting all five requirements of ACL’s EBP definition may be approved by CDA for use as a Title IIID program. To request CDA review and approval to implement a program that is not included in the NCOA list of EBPs, please send program documentation demonstrating how each of the five criteria is met to CDANutritionandHealthPromotion@aging.ca.gov.