Wednesday April 26, 2023 | 8:30 a.m. MT

44th Annual Meeting & Scientific Sessions of the Society of Behavioral Medicine

Speakers

Linda M Collins PhD, FSBM

Heather Wasser PhD, MPH, RD

Organized by the Optimization of Behavioral and Biobehavioral Interventions SIG

Description

Pre Conference Course 3

The Multiphase Optimization STrategy (MOST) is a comprehensive principled engineering-inspired framework for optimizing and evaluating multicomponent behavioral biobehavioral biomedical and social-structural interventions. Presented by the Optimization of Behavioral and Biobehavioral Interventions Special Interest Group (OBBI SIG) this course is designed to provide an overview of the basic principles definitions and utilities of MOST from an interdisciplinary perspective.

During this “basic principles” course attendees will learn the key tenets of MOST (the continuous optimization principle and the resource management principle) and the three phases: 1) preparation 2) optimization and 3) evaluation. The purpose of the preparation phase is to lay the groundwork for optimization and key activities to be discussed include how to derive and revise a conceptual model identify a set of candidate components conduct necessary pilot work and identify the optimization objective. The purpose of the optimization phase is to build the optimized intervention which includes conducting the optimization trial and identifying the intervention that meets the optimization objective. The array of possible experimental designs will be presented in brief with emphasis placed on the factorial experiment. Finally the purpose of the evaluation phase is to confirm the effectiveness of the optimized intervention using the standard randomized controlled trial (RCT) and an appropriate control condition. Given the longstanding use of the RCT in behavioral intervention research the emphasis of this course will be placed on activities that occur during the first two phases of MOST preparation and optimization as well as the critical decision point that occurs after optimization in which researchers must decide whether to proceed to the evaluation phase or return to the preparation phase. The course will be interactive with time allotted for open discussion and application of concepts. Attendees will be given a link to the Power Point slides and a list of articles resources and opportunities for obtaining additional information and training in the MOST framework.

This “basic principles” course is highly recommended for attendees who are unfamiliar or newly familiar with MOST and who want to participate in future courses or conference sessions covering more advanced topics in MOST.