Table 9 Representative quotes from low and high implementation programs

Design Quality & Packaging ^a

(Intervention Characteristics)

“… I had the knowledge and definitely the materials, the website that you guys provide with all of the resources is probably, out of all the programs that we offer, probably the most concise one that we have”. … “is the most concise, the most organized program that we have. Like I don’t like when I have to go teach a program and like have to create like an extra piece on my own.”

– Participant G

“Um … If the evaluation could go down to two pages. I know that’s really difficult. … I think some of the recipes in the cookbook are a little, they seem a little complicated and like a lot of re-, a lot of ingredients. And sometimes I feel like they’re not necessarily the healthiest options.”

– Participant H

“I think it was one of the few things that I felt was packaged enough and ready to go, that this was something I could go out into the community and offer without a lot of synthesis. Because I feel like a lot of times I am making up presentations or whatever, and this had such a clear goal that had data attached to it, that I think was a good thing to do, especially early on.”

– Participant L

Compatibility ^a

(Inner Setting)

“Cancer Cooking School fits very well into programming for most agents who are involved in chronic disease prevention, so it’s just a very smooth and easy transition where can get a little extra funding and we don’t have to force it into the mold.”

– Participant E

“Oh, well I think it fits perfectly within the scope of work and the goals of FACS programming. One of our main focuses is chronic disease prevention so it fits right in with that and in terms of the nutrition education, it goes with it. A lot of that is information that we already teach. Some of it’s expanded on, which is a good thing. It allows us to get a little bit more depth on some things, so I think it fits perfectly.”

– Participant M

Access to Knowledge & Information ^a

(Inner Setting)

“I was looking at the website today because I went to print out the coversheet. And the only thing it says, that I noticed about planning ahead, was 2 to 5 days call the program leader. And make sure you understand the evaluation process … Looking back now, the evaluation and consent forms, that was the easiest part of the entire thing. … There’s a lot of moving parts to this thing.”

– Participant F

“And the training that was in November, in Macon, um, was really good because the program leader had updated some stuff, so it was good to see that. Um, and it was really good to see you, actually, do the school. That was helpful.”

– Participant H

Other Personal Attributes ^a

(Individual Characteristics)

“I think there’s two main factors. I think the training was a large part of it. It was the training and then combined with my experience in Extension and teaching and teaching programs around nutrition and health that I felt pretty good about this subject matter already.”

– Participant A

“I was really excited waiting for 30 people, um, I was happy to have a lot of people for the program but it didn’t happen.”

– Participant K

Executing ^b

(Process)

“You know the only thing is just being kind of loose with the target audience. That was a the biggest deal. Like I said, we had one that I’m pretty sure, maybe two, that fit that target audience and the rest you know they just didn’t.”

– Participant E

“Honestly, we didn’t spend a lot of time in the handouts.”

– Participant E

“I think registration went really smoothly … And I think the recipe selection was great and people enjoyed it. And they got the educational part of the recipe but then they also liked the taste and the flavor. Um, and there was a good size group. It wasn’t too small and it wasn’t too large, so there was good communication and discussion throughout the actual event. And, overall, everyone seemed to enjoy it.”

– Participant H

External Change Agents ^b

(Process)

“Once I had the flyer, I used the flyer that you all had created, but I kind of Frankenstein-ed it into one that really worked for me. They [the external change agent] did not want to promote it as a cancer prevention cooking school. They thought cancer in the title would put people off.”

– Participant F

“I chose five because I did a-I did a committee effort. So I had other organizations join in to help with the marketing, they also help with registration. They help with planning, securing the location, all the logistics. … Yes, it worked well for the partners who are heavily instrumental to and getting this program out to the community.”

– Participant I

Formally Appointed External Implementation Leaders ^a

(Process)

“So, she preferred to use her own PowerPoints, the American Cancer Society PowerPoint but she used her own because they had certain photos in them and she preferred to show the photos that were more detailed about breast cancer, for instance … Her PowerPoint slides were more detailed and longer, so she went through the breast cancer, she went through the colon cancer screening very well. She did not do a portion of the presentation about the Pap test.”

– Participant A

“She was very engaged and very responsive and we communicated a good bit early on to select a date and get her familiar with the group and that kind of thing, and then again right before the school just to confirm the details.”

– Participant M

Experience ^b

(Other)

“But I mean I’m not, it’s not a bad thing, it’s just one of those things, until you actually go through the process you’re really not gonna know how long it takes.”

– Participant F

“I think when you have it all laid out the way you’re supposed to teach it, and I guess, too, I’ve taught it so many other times, it’s not like it’s something totally new. It may be we change some material very year to keep up with the changes with the statistics and things like that. But other than that, it’s not a big thing for me.”

– Participant J