SOLICITATION NOTICE
R -- Concept Mapping Projects to Address Policy Resistant Public Health Problems
- Notice Date
- 9/13/2007
- Notice Type
- Solicitation Notice
- NAICS
- 541611
— Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Library of Medicine, 8600 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD, 20894, UNITED STATES
- ZIP Code
- 00000
- Solicitation Number
- NLM07-230RSH
- Response Due
- 9/28/2007
- Archive Date
- 10/13/2007
- Description
- This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), Part 12, utilizing FAR 13, Simplified Acquisition Procedures. This announcement constitutes the synopsis; proposals are being requested electronically to Mr. Raymond Hawkins, Jr., hawkinsra@mail.nih.gov, and a written solicitation will not be issued. This solicitation is being issued as Request for Quotations (RFQ) under NLM-07-230/RSH. This solicitation document incorporates provisions and clauses that are in effect in the March 2005 FAR Revision, including all FAR Circulars issued as of the date of this synopsis. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code is 541611 ? ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGEMENT AND GENERAL MANAGEMENT CONSULTING SERVICES. It is the intent of the National Library of Medicine (NLM), to procure services for the planning and gathering of two meetings: (1) A workshop to identify ?policy resistant public health problems? relevant to the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) mission and prioritize them; and, (2) a two day meeting of leaders in the field to formulate new research questions, directions, perhaps a new grid or paradigms for the next generation of health disparities research all on behalf of the National Institutes of Health. Title: Concept Mapping Projects to Address Policy Resistant Public Health Problems. 1) Policy-Resistant Public Health Problems This project is to identify areas that are considered or have been observed to be ?policy-resistant? and will be led by Dr. Patricia Mabry at OBSSR. This is a collaborative effort between OBSSR and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The desired end point of the concept mapping project for this focus shall be the delivery of presentation ready materials by November 2, 2007 for the Expert Panel meeting to be held on November 15 - 16, 2007 in Washington, DC. A final report of the project shall be delivered following this meeting and in the second week of December, 2007. Project Specifics: ? Participants for brainstorming, sorting, and rating will be drawn from OBSSR and CDC list serves and the email distribution lists of other professional organizations. The process of identifying participants has already begun. ? Respondent questions will depend on the Working Group?s interest in sub-group comparisons, and will be defined prior to sorting and rating. ? Rating scales will also be determined according to the Working Group?s interest in value comparisons, and will be defined after the brainstorming is underway. ? Products will include preliminary results, final results, a full presentation in electronic and hard copy format in advance of the Expert Panel workshop, Expert Panel web or teleconference briefings, and a final summary report of the concept mapping activities and results. Planning and Project Management: Vendor shall be responsible for managing timelines, harmonizing communication approaches with those of OBSSR, and ensuring that OBSSR has the information it needs to make project related decisions. Although some travel will be required at key points, the project requires a routine schedule of planning conference calls, to begin within a week after the contract is awarded. This provides a cost-effective and time-sensitive way for the project to proceed in the time required. Working Group: The Working Group for this project will include Dr. Mabry and Dr. Milstein, as well as other OBSSR senior staff assigned to this project. It will also include two of the vendor?s senior staff and one project manager. Vendor will be responsible for the timely and complete fulfillment of each activity in the planned scope of work. Responses to the focus prompt will enable the Office to clearly delineate these areas, and identify priorities among them, for strategic, systemic change. Thus, the focus prompt is critical to ensuring that the feedback from the invited experts will be on target with the Office?s needs. The focus prompt will be drafted, piloted and finalized as soon as is practicable, in collaboration with the Office and the project Working Group. Determining Rating Scales and Respondent Questions: With vendor guidance, the Working Group will determine the most useful rating scales for the purposes of this project. They will also develop the respondent questions that they expect would yield the most useful opportunities for comparison of participant subgroups. Communicating with Meeting Attendees to participate in pre-meeting activities: Taking into account the Office?s interest in holding the expert workshop on November 15- 16, 2007, the OBSSR project team will have drafts of invitations or ?save the date? communications to send to the invitees in fairly short order if deemed necessary or appropriate. OBSSR will connect the communication needs of the concept mapping activities to those communications that the OBSSR has planned regarding the late fall meeting, harmonizing messages and timing to ensure that the invitees have sufficient notice and encouragement to participate. Vendor shall be responsible for participation reminders over the duration of the concept mapping activities themselves. Designing and Managing Websites for Participation: Vendor shall be responsible for ensuring that the Working Group is satisfied with the specifics of the project design, including the focus prompt and timeline for participation. Vendor shall design, host, monitor and manage global websites that will be customized for this project, and will communicate regarding timeframes for participation at each stage. Conducting Brainstorming: Vendor will host the customized website for stakeholders to contribute specific responses to the focus prompt. Post-Brainstorming Synthesis: Prior to issuing a request for sorting and rating, vendor shall work with the Working Group to review, edit and render consistent and usable the set of unique ideas that will have emerged from the brainstorming. Conducting Sorting and Rating: Vendor shall host unique sites for these activities. It is common practice to identify a smaller number of invitees to take part in the sorting activity. The Working Group will indentify and invite a subset of about 40 - 50 people from the brainstorming group to complete the sorting activities. All who were invited to brainstorm will also be invited to rate. Analysis and Results Development: Vendor shall conduct all the necessary analyses and develop preliminary results for review and editing by the Working Group. Vendor shall edit and convey revisions of the preliminary analysis to the Working group for final approval in advance of the expert workshop. Final Presentation at the Expert Panel Meeting: Vendor shall prepare all final concept mapping related materials for distribution at the meeting. Vendor will support the Office?s development of the Expert Panel meeting agenda, to the degree that the concept mapping results will help to frame a purposeful focus on the areas of interest to the assembled group and to OBSSR. 2) Health Disparities In this portion of the project, OBSSR is interested in identifying issues or targeted areas of concentration that relate the fact of health disparities to social and behavioral issues. Dr. Stephane Philogene assisted by other OBSSR staff and contractors will lead this initiative. The desired end point of the concept mapping project for this focus will be the presentation of results at a meeting on health disparities and social and behavioral sciences. This meeting will be held in late January 2008. Project Specifics: ? The identification of meeting invitees will clearly guide the development of the participant list for this effort. We anticipate that participants will number about 100 for brainstorming and rating. We anticipate between 40 and 50 of these to be invited to sort as well. ? Respondent questions will depend on the Working Group?s interest in sub-group comparisons, and will be defined prior to sorting and rating. ? Rating scales will also be determined according to the Working Group?s interest in value comparisons, and will be defined after the brainstorming is underway. ? Products will include preliminary results, final results, a full presentation in electronic and hard copy format in advance of the expert workshop, and a final summary report of the concept mapping activities and results. Planning and Project Management: Vendor shall be responsible for managing timelines, harmonizing communication approaches with those of OBSSR, and ensuring that OBSSR has the information it needs to make project related decisions. Although some travel will be required at key points, the project requires a routine schedule of planning conference calls, to begin within a week after the contract is awarded. This provides a cost-effective and time-sensitive way for the project to proceed in the time required. Working Group: The Working Group for this project will include Dr. Philogene and other OBSSR staff and contractors as designated. It will also include two of the vendor?s senior staff and one project manager. The Working Group will be responsible for the timely and complete fulfillment of each activity in the planned scope of work. Participants in the concept mapping activities: Participants will include policy experts, academic researchers, government representatives and other officials as identified by OBSSR. Target participation for each project phase is as follows: ? Brainstorming: up to 200 participants ? Sorting: up to 50 participants ? Rating: up to 200 participants Focus prompt: The objectives of this concept mapping project are to develop a collaborative, knowledge-based framework of the issues of health disparities in relation to behavioral and social science. Responses to the focus prompt will enable the Office to identify priorities for research support in these areas. The proposed focus prompt is the following: What breakthrough research is needed to eliminate disparities in health? Determining Rating Scales and Respondent Questions: The Working Group will determine the rating foci and scales that would be most useful for the purposes of this project. They will also consider what respondent questions they expect would yield the most useful opportunities for comparison of subgroups of participants. Communicating with Meeting Attendees to participate in pre-meeting activities: Taking into account the Office?s interest in holding the expert workshop no later than mid-February 2008, the OBSSR project team will likely have drafts of invitations or ?save the date? communications to send to the invitees in fairly short order. OBSSR will connect the communication needs of the concept mapping activities to those communications that the OBSSR has planned regarding the winter 2008 meeting, harmonizing messages and timing to ensure that the invitees have sufficient notice and encouragement to participate. In addition, vendor shall be responsible for participation reminders over the duration of the concept mapping activities themselves. Designing and Managing Websites for Participation: Vendor is responsible for ensuring that the Working Group is satisfied with the specifics of the project design, including the focus prompt and timeline for participation. Vendor shall design, host, monitor and manage global websites that will be customized for this project, and will communicate regarding timeframes for participation at each stage. Conducting Brainstorming: Vendor shall host the customized website for meeting attendees to contribute specific responses to the focus prompt. Post-Brainstorming Synthesis: Prior to a request for sorting and rating, Vendor shall work with the Working Group to review, edit and render consistent and usable the set of unique ideas that will have emerged from the brainstorming. Conducting Sorting and Rating: Vendor shall host unique sites for these activities. It is common practice to identify a smaller number of invitees to take part in the sorting activity. Participants for the sorting activity will be identified by the Working Group from the list of all expert workshop invitees. All who were invited to brainstorm will also be invited to rate. Analysis and Results Development: Vendor will conduct all the necessary analyses and develop preliminary results for review and editing by the Working Group. Vendor shall edit and convey to the Working group for final approval in advance of the expert workshop. Final Presentation at the Expert Workshop: Vendor shall prepare all concept mapping related materials for distribution at the meeting, and shall conduct the final presentation. If it is determined necessary by OBSSR, Vendor shall support the Office?s development of the expert meeting/summit agenda, to the degree that the concept mapping results will help to frame a purposeful focus on the areas of interest to the assembled group and to OBSSR. Travel: In support of this project, OBSSR anticipates two planning meetings that will take place at the OBSSR offices in Bethesda. These meetings will coincide with milestones in the project, and will be necessary for the timely completion of each deliverable and decision step. Vendor may be required to attend the expert meeting/summit in California to present the results of the project and assist as appropriate. The project officer will decide and approve any required travel. Vendor shall comply with all applicable Federal, State and Local laws, executive orders, rules and regulations applicable to its performance under this order. Full text of clauses and provisions are available at Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR): htm://www.amet.gov/far/. The FAR provisions and clauses sited herein are incorporated by reference into this solicitation. Offerors are advised to propose in accordance with the provision of FAR 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors Commercial Items (September 2006). Offerors are advised to provide with their offer a completed copy of the following provisions: FAR 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications Commercial Items (November 2006). The following clauses apply to this acquisition: FAR 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions Commercial Items (February 2007); FAR 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders Commercial Items (March 2007). Interested parties with questions are to send an email to Raymond Hawkins, Jr. at hawkinsra@mail.nih.gov.
- Place of Performance
- Address: 8600 Rockville Pike, Building 38A, Room B1N20, Bethesda, MD
- Zip Code: 20892-0002
- Country: UNITED STATES
- Zip Code: 20892-0002
- Record
- SN01405379-W 20070915/070913220608 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
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