Governance Board
The POWER Governance Board determines goals, policies and procedures for POWER. The board establishes parameters for recruitment, enrollment, and participation of sites in POWER, establishes codes of conduct for sites, and mechanisms for their enforcement. Board members review and approve reports from POWER committees for internal and external distribution and implement approved recommended policies and procedures.
They review and provide final approval of research proposals and resulting manuscripts and provide recommendations to the Data Coordinating Center (DCC) for POWER on the selection of data elements and reporting on outcomes. They review and approve allocation of POWER funds available that exceed the costs for supporting the infrastructure and activities of the DCC for POWER. Finally, the board conducts an annual review of POWER and the DCC to meet projected outcomes and expectations.
Communications Committee
The POWER Communications Committee is responsible for managing internal and external web resources for POWER. These include:
1. POWER website (powerregistry.org), which is intended to inform the public about POWER’s mission and participating sites and members, distribute new information and disseminate research findings from abstracts and manuscripts reporting on POWER outcomes.
2. POWER SharePoint site, which is accessible to POWER work group members and sites and serves as a central location for approved documents, resources, work group meeting slides and calendar event items. SharePoint also allows for communication among members through discussion boards and sharing working documents such as draft manuscripts.
3. POWER Team on Slack serves as a live feed communication tool. Slack is available via a mobile app or through the web (www.slack.com). POWER has a main team on Slack and various channels within that for subgroups to optionally use as an additional communication tool. The leaders of the various Slack channels can email invitations to new members so they can participate.
Data Monitoring and Outcomes Committee
The POWER Data Monitoring & Outcomes Committee will make recommendations to the POWER Governance Board with input from members of the POWER Work Group on the following:
1. Selection of the data elements to be collected in the POWER registry
2. Selection of a set of outcomes to be derived from the POWER aggregate data set and technology for sharing with members of the POWER Work Group via the POWER SharePoint site
3. Procedures and guidelines for how participating sites may access individual and aggregate data for review
4. When and how to best report the selected outcomes from the POWER aggregate data set to the public and medical community in the form of abstracts/publications/press releases
5) selection of outcomes and/or process measures to be tracked over selected time periods as part of a quality improvement initiative.
The DMC will work to review current data elements for relevancy and feasibility and consider modifications, deletions and additions to the group of data elements within the POWER registry. The committee will host discussions on proposed changes and make consensus recommendations to the Governance Board. The committee will similarly review processes for data entry and available data dictionary descriptions of elements. The committee will work closely with other POWER committees and the Data Coordinating Center to allow for continual improvement in data quantity and quality.
Research Committee
The POWER Research Committee will be responsible for supporting investigators in the development of research proposals using the POWER aggregate dataset (but not exclusive of local or additional data sets). Feedback and guidance will be offered to ensure that proposals (1) use a research team which, includes multiple POWER sites, (2) reflect collaboration, coordination, and expertise suited to the project needs, (3) focus on important and unresolved questions about childhood obesity causes, consequences, and treatment, (4) are designed in a way that will answer the key question(s) (5) are not duplicative of other projects, and (6) align with the overall mission of the POWER network and its membership.
The POWER RC will also assist with developing and promoting research priorities for POWER, and assist with identifying extramural funding opportunities which will sustain the efforts of POWER.
Operations & Sustainability Committee
The POWER Operations & Sustainability Committee will propose governance guidelines for the process by which the POWER Work Group establishes a multi-site pediatric obesity registry. These guidelines will also address the following: 1) site recruitment; 2) criteria for site eligibility and enrollment; 3) access to the POWER aggregate data base for research and publication of outcomes; 4) working relationship with the Data
Coordinating Center for POWER; and 5) financial oversight. Proposed modifications and amendments to the Policies and Procedures document, which are submitted by members of the POWER Work Group, will be reviewed by this committee, which will then make recommendations to the POWER Governance Board for their ratification.
Data Coordinating Center (DCC)
The POWER Data Coordinating Center (DCC) is responsible for the coordination, management, and reporting of the data collected for the POWER program. The DCC developed and maintains the database that is used to store and manage the data and for the development and production of the patient characteristics and outcomes reports. In addition, the DCC provides statistical support for research projects.
