Material Review

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) requires that educational materials produced with CDC funds be submitted to a Program Materials Review Board. In compliance with this mandate, the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) Infectious Disease Prevention Section required organizations receiving DOH-allocated CDC funding to submit literature and other materials (e.g. audiovisual, web pages) to the DOH Materials Review Panel for review.

Who Needs to Submit Materials?

Education materials must be submitted to the Program Materials Review Panel if you purchased and/or developed educational materials using federal monies.

What are Educational Materials?

Educational materials include: pamphlets, brochures, flyers, booklets, audiotapes, videotapes, DVDs, posters, billboards, curricula/training guides, TV/radio PSAs, web pages, periodicals, questionnaires/survey instruments.

CDC-funded materials that do not include HIV prevention education messages must also be submitted for review. These include materials designed for the purposes of outreach, program promotion, or client recruitment. All promotional materials which cite Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and/or Washington State Department of Health as funders must be submitted for review.

How Do I Submit Materials for Review?

Materials must be submitted electronically to:

The review process takes 2-4 weeks. Please include the following information in your submission:

  1. Intended population for each submission.

  2. Name of program/intervention.

  3. Type of material (eg: flyer, video, pamphlet, etc.).

  4. Goal of the program.

  5. Contract information for the person requesting the review.

What Happens Once Materials are Submitted?

To meet the requirements of the review process, the Program Materials Review Panel must review materials according to the following criteria:

  1. Scientific and technical accuracy.

  2. Compliance with the Basic Principles listed in the document, Content of AIDS-Related Written Materials, Pictorials, Audiovisuals, Questionnaires, Survey Instruments, and Education Session in Center for Disease Control and Prevention Assistance Programs (1992).

  3. Appropriateness for target audiences.

A minimum of five (5) reviewers are needed for the revision to be completed. Following the completion of review, literature will be assigned one of the following statuses:

  • Approved as submitted: Met review requirements as submitted.

  • Approved with suggested changes: Met review requirements but Panel members have offered suggestions to strengthen the materials.

  • Conditionally approved with required changes: Identified changes must be made in order to meet review requirements. Once changes are made, materials are approved.

  • Not approved as submitted: Did not meet the review criteria and must be revised. Must go through Program Review Panel again.

When & How Do I Find Out About What Has Been Approved?

DOH staff will finalize the approval/disapproval of materials utilizing the feedback acquired from the Program Materials Review Panel. Communication of the Program Review Panel's decision will be made available to contractors within 30 days of DOH's receipt of the materials. Contractor's will be informed of this decision via email.

Health Education/Risk Reduction (HERR) Material Review Checklist

Materials will be reviewed utilizing an adapted CDC Health Education Risk Reduction Materials Review checklist to provide feedback on the quality of materials. This is provided as feedback and is not conditional to approve materials. Review Panel members will use the Material Review Checklist during their review of each submission. Checklists must be submitted to DOH, by Review Panel members, prior to determination of material approval.

Scope of the Review Panel

The Program Materials Review Panel is limited in its scope and aims to supplement existing panels or procedures for materials review. “The panel is authorized to review materials only and is not empowered either to evaluate the proposal as a whole or to replace any other internal panel or procedure of the recipient organization or local governmental jurisdiction”