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Table 6 General sustainability planning strategies

From: How do researchers conceptualize and plan for the sustainability of their NIH R01 implementation projects?

Category

Description

System-level stakeholder buy-in

Advocate for the development of policies that encourage the use of the intervention/program/practice both before and during implementation.

Network with professional organizations that could either promote the intervention/program/practice or incorporate the intervention/program/practice as part of their larger professional curriculum.

Organize ongoing stakeholder consultations to monitor changes in the context that could require adaptations or to advocate for more funding

Organizational/community-level stakeholder buy-in

Encourage leaders to buy-in and talk about the intervention/program/practice regularly in staff meetings.

Consult with individuals implementing the intervention to find out if the proposed intervention/program/practice will be sustainable after research funding is removed (e.g., site visits, formative evaluations)

Co-develop implementation strategies with stakeholders

Organizational incentives

Build in program indicators into performance reviews, organization leaders also build other incentives for employees to use the intervention/program/practice and they document their progress

Staff-turn over packages

Generate new staff orientation and training packets so that new hires learn about the intervention/program/practice as soon as they are on boarded

Capacity building at all levels (organization, community, system)

Link implementation teams to a resource package or other organizations that provide ongoing training.

Provide implementers with a free social media tool/learning collaborative where they can have fast access to resources and connect with other implementers

Organization-level continuous quality improvement

Host organization staff that are trained to use PDSA cycles to monitor the fit of the intervention/program/practice, anticipate challenges, and adapt where needed over time

Intervention monetization

Publish a training handbook that can be purchased at a popular book store.

Sell online resources to prospective implementers (e.g., one-time fee for unique log-in)

Guidance from intervention developers

Provide guidance on what the core and what the kind of adaptable periphery of the intervention/program/practice, so that when changes need to be made implementers have a sense of what key elements need to be sustained

Programmatic approach to research

Ensure each implementation study has elements of sustainability (e.g., one arm gets early sustainability planning) that can be followed up on in subsequent studies and the funding for the intervention/program/practice continues