Uplifting Contextual and Experiential Evidence

Uplifting Contextual and Experiential Evidence (UCEE) shifts how evidence is defined and used in public health decision-making. By elevating contextual evidence—measurable community conditions that influence outcomes—and experiential evidence, including the knowledge and life experiences of people most affected by prevention strategies, UCEE supports more equitable and effective policies, programs, and investments. Launched in collaboration with community-grounded researchers and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division of Violence Prevention, this work builds on earlier efforts to support public health agencies and partners in embedding health equity and racial justice into community safety and violence prevention. This project runs from October 2023 to July 2024.

The purpose of UCEE is to strengthen the field’s ability to recognize, gather, and integrate contextual and experiential evidence alongside traditional research. Through this work, we contribute to shifts in how practitioners, funders, and institutions define evidence, make decisions, and partner with communities. UCEE reinforces the value of community knowledge and experience as essential inputs to prevention strategies, helping move the field toward approaches that are more responsive, inclusive, and grounded in lived realities.

Primary activities:

• Conducting a landscape scan to examine how funders, public agencies, and institutions create, integrate, and sustain contextual and experiential evidence in decision-making.
• Engaging community partners and subject matter experts to identify promising practices for valuing and applying community knowledge and lived experience.
• Designing and delivering a three-part webinar series to share findings, elevate community perspectives, and support field-wide learning.
• Synthesizing insights from the scan, expert engagement, and webinars into the Uplifting Contextual and Experiential Evidence: Promising Practices and Recommendations report.
• Sharing practical guidance and examples that support equitable, community-informed prevention and public health strategies.