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MUELLER | TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

Technical Assistance:
A High-Touch, High-Impact Community
Engagement Model
Rebecca Mueller
MA, MPH, CPH 
Public Health Specialist IU Prevention Insights 

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PAPER 3

We also build fruitful 
partnerships with our clients 

as we follow them over 
months or years, share 

resources and opportunities, 
point out themes and 

takeaways we observe in their 
work, and explore possible 
enhancements together.

 My organization, Prevention Insights at the 
IU Bloomington School of Public Health, works to 
address the addictions crisis here in Indiana and 
nationally. I work closely with clients and 
communities around the state in my role as a 
Prevention Insights technical assistance specialist. 
Technical assistance (TA) is defined by the Centers 
for Disease Control and Prevention as "the process of 
providing targeted support to an organization with a 
development need or problem, which is typically 
delivered over an extended period of time" (CDC, 
2018). Not to be confused with one-off or as-needed 
tech support, the Prevention Insights TA model is 
grounded in long-term relationships. We support 
prevention organizations with "technical assistance, 
coaching, and support" from the earliest stages of 
needs assessment, staff and organizational capacity 
building, and strategic planning; through the 
implementation of community-based strategies, 
evaluation, outcome dissemination, and sustainability 
planning.

 

 Prevention Insights TA specialists share our 
expertise in addiction science, evidence-based 
strategies, and program fidelity, bridging the gap 
between academic knowledge and our clients’ local 
efforts. We also build fruitful partnerships with our 
clients as we follow them over months or years, 
share resources and opportunities, point out themes 
and takeaways we observe in their work, and 
explore possible enhancements together. We 
challenge them to adopt best practices, provide 
high-quality programs and services to their 
communities, and achieve measurable outcomes. We 
celebrate when our clients write a successful grant 
proposal, gain the support of a county council 
member, or experience a breakthrough with that 
disengaged student in the back of the classroom. 
And we reflect together on complex issues, from 
local politics and conflicts with partners to the 
community tragedies of natural disaster, youth 
overdose or suicide.

 In February, I attended an IU Coaching 
Conversations training aimed at academic advisors 
and other student-facing professionals. The training 
was very relevant to my work as a technical 
assistance specialist. Like students, our TA clients 
often come to us—and to Indiana University, which 
we represent—for answers. 



References

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC 
(2018). Technical Assistance [Video Presentation]. 
Part of Professional Development 101: The Basics.  

  National Resource Center for Refugees, 
  Immigrants, and Migrants NRC-RIM (nd). Using	
  Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR). 
  University of Minnesota.	

PAPER 3

Our primary task is to listen closely, explore their 
questions deeply, provide space for brainstorming, 
and assist them in recognizing that they and their 
stakeholders are the experts in identifying 
community strengths and determining an approach 
to planning, decision-making, and implementation 
suited to their local context.

 As a premier institution of higher learning, 
Indiana University has an obligation to ensure that 
our work contributes to the public good. Our 
leadership has demonstrated their commitment to 
this with the IU 2030 Strategic Plan's Goal 3: 
Service to Our State and Beyond. IU Prevention 
Insights' intensive, tailored technical assistance 
model is a high-touch, high-impact approach to 
community engagement that could be scaled up 
elsewhere at IU. High-quality TA service provision 
by IU experts has the potential to benefit 
professionals and organizations in any sector.

The Prevention Insights TA model also 
benefits Indiana University. In reference to IU 2030 
Goal 2: Transformative Research and Creativity, TA 
clients—or their partners—could be enlisted in 
Community-Based Participatory Research (NRC-
RIM, n.d.) to further our understanding of 
community-based processes and strengthen the 
evidence basis for specific solutions. Formal research 
aside, the numerous, long-term community 
connections built through TA service provision afford 
an invaluable "bird’s-eye view" of real 
communities.Our Prevention Insights team reflects 
regularly on trends and common challenges we 
observe across Indiana, continually adding to our 
collective wisdom on how communities respond to 
those challenges, what works, and what doesn't. 
Ultimately, TA service, like many other forms of 
service, involves its practitioners in community-
engaged learning, and this learning can continually 
inform and improve IU's service to our state. 
 

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MUELLER | TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

Amy Warner
Vice Chancellor for Community Engagement

Indiana University Indianapolis


