February 14-21, 2026 • Colorado Springs, Colorado
NORC’s Public Health team is excited to join the aquatics and water safety community in Colorado at the International Aquatics and Water Safety Conference and Exposition.
NORC’s Public Health research department contributes to the broader drowning prevention field through rigorous, practice-oriented evaluation methods. Our work supports federal, state, and local initiatives by strengthening water-safety programs and trainings, advancing knowledge-sharing across organizations, and producing practical insights that help reduce preventable drowning deaths.
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Our Community-Centered Approach
NORC partners with communities and program leaders to advance evidence-based drowning prevention research.
We focus on populations at the highest risk. Our work focuses on groups disproportionately affected by drowning, including children with autism and American Indian and Alaska Native communities. We design and evaluate drowning prevention strategies that meet communities where they are.
We partner with communities and program implementers. We collaborate directly with organizations delivering drowning prevention programs. NORC has partnered with the American Red Cross, YMCA of the USA, and YMCAs and aquatic facilities nationwide to ensure programs are feasible and context responsive. Our insights are strengthened by working closely with implementers and community partners who shape and experience programs on the ground in the most impacted communities.
We evaluate both outcomes and processes. Our evaluations examine not only whether programs improve swim skills and water safety knowledge, but also how programs are delivered, which instructional models work best, and what supports strong partnerships for program implementation. We use mixed-methods approaches, validated measures, and plain-language reporting to ensure findings are actionable for funders, policymakers, practitioners, and communities.
