At ALR, we put a lot of time and effort into translating research into information that can be used by practitioners, policy-makers, and advocates. But how do we know whether our efforts have been successful?

A new paper shares findings from an evaluation of ALR’s first ten years, 2001 to 2011. The evaluation was particularly interested in how well ALR has been able to inform policies and practices to advance the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s goal of reversing childhood obesity by 2015. It also assessed ALR’s overall progress in establishing a strong research base and building an interdisciplinary and diverse field.

Interviews with 100 key contacts from multiple sectors, including transportation, urban planning, public health, parks and recreation, among others, found that ALR made substantial progress toward these goals. The achievements include building a highly diverse cadre of grantees who have reported 309 publications as of 2011 and who have actively shared lessons from their research with people who can apply them in the field.

You can read more highlights from this evaluation here. In addition, a separate paper by Dr. Jim Sallis and the ALR team discusses reflections on ALR’s progress.