Articles

A protocol for evaluating a multi-level implementation theory to scale-up obstetric triage in referral hospitals in Ghana

Ghana significantly reduced maternal and newborn mortality between 1990 and 2015, largely through efforts focused on improving access to care. Yet achieving further progress requires improving the quality and ...

Authors: Caitlin R. Williams, Stephanie Bogdewic, Medge D. Owen, Emmanuel K. Srofenyoh and Rohit Ramaswamy

Mentored training and its association with dissemination and implementation research output: a quasi-experimental evaluation

There is a continued need to evaluate training programs in dissemination and implementation (D&I) research. Scientific products yielded from trainees are an important and objective measure to understand the ca...

Authors: Rebekah R. Jacob, Angeline Gacad, Margaret Padek, Graham A. Colditz, Karen M. Emmons, Jon F. Kerner, David A. Chambers and Ross C. Brownson

Proceedings from the 12^th Annual Conference on the Science of Dissemination and Implementation

Authors:

Assessing the Veterans Health Administration’s response to intimate partner violence among women: protocol for a randomized hybrid type 2 implementation-effectiveness trial

Intimate partner violence (IPV) against women in the United States (US) remains a complex public health crisis. Women who experience IPV are among the most vulnerable patients seen in primary care. Screening i...

Authors: Katherine M. Iverson, Melissa E. Dichter, Kelly Stolzmann, Omonyêlé L. Adjognon, Robert A. Lew, LeAnn E. Bruce, Megan R. Gerber, Galina A. Portnoy and Christopher J. Miller

A pragmatic method for costing implementation strategies using time-driven activity-based costing

Implementation strategies increase the adoption of evidence-based practices, but they require resources. Although information about implementation costs is critical for decision-makers with budget constraints,...

Authors: Zuleyha Cidav, David Mandell, Jeffrey Pyne, Rinad Beidas, Geoffrey Curran and Steven Marcus

How and under what circumstances do quality improvement collaboratives lead to better outcomes? A systematic review

Quality improvement collaboratives are widely used to improve health care in both high-income and low and middle-income settings. Teams from multiple health facilities share learning on a given topic and apply...

Authors: Karen Zamboni, Ulrika Baker, Mukta Tyagi, Joanna Schellenberg, Zelee Hill and Claudia Hanson

The Balanced Opioid Initiative: protocol for a clustered, sequential, multiple-assignment randomized trial to construct an adaptive implementation strategy to improve guideline-concordant opioid prescribing in primary care

Rates of opioid prescribing tripled in the USA between 1999 and 2015 and were associated with significant increases in opioid misuse and overdose death. Roughly half of all opioids are prescribed in primary ca...

Authors: Andrew Quanbeck, Daniel Almirall, Nora Jacobson, Randall T. Brown, Jillian K. Landeck, Lynn Madden, Andrew Cohen, Brienna M. F. Deyo, James Robinson, Roberta A. Johnson and Nicholas Schumacher

Study protocol: a cluster randomized trial to evaluate the effectiveness and implementation of onsite GeneXpert testing at community health centers in Uganda (XPEL-TB)

Delays in diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis (TB) remain common in high-burden countries. To improve case detection, substantial investments have been made to scale-up Xpert MTB/RIF (Xpert), a cartridge-b...

Authors: Tania F. Reza, Talemwa Nalugwa, Katherine Farr, Mariam Nantale, Denis Oyuku, Annet Nakaweesa, Johnson Musinguzi, Moksha Vangala, Priya B. Shete, Austin Tucker, Olivia Ferguson, Katherine Fielding, Hojoon Sohn, David Dowdy, David A. J. Moore, J. Lucian Davis…

The effectiveness of continuous quality improvement for developing professional practice and improving health care outcomes: a systematic review

Efforts to improve the quality, safety, and efficiency of health care provision have often focused on changing approaches to the way services are organized and delivered. Continuous quality improvement (CQI), ...

Authors: James E. Hill, Anne-Marie Stephani, Paul Sapple and Andrew J. Clegg

Impact of capacity building interventions on individual and organizational competency for HPSR in endemic disease control in Nigeria: a qualitative study

The need to build capacity for health policy and systems research (HPSR) in low- and middle-income countries has been underscored as this encompasses the processes of decision-making at all levels of the healt...

Authors: Obinna Onwujekwe, Chinyere Mbachu, Enyi Etiaba, Nkoli Ezumah, Uchenna Ezenwaka, Ifeyinwa Arize, Chinyere Okeke, Chikezie Nwankwor and Benjamin Uzochukwu

A systematic review of empirical studies examining mechanisms of implementation in health

Understanding the mechanisms of implementation strategies (i.e., the processes by which strategies produce desired effects) is important for research to understand why a strategy did or did not achieve its int...

Authors: Cara C. Lewis, Meredith R. Boyd, Callie Walsh-Bailey, Aaron R. Lyon, Rinad Beidas, Brian Mittman, Gregory A. Aarons, Bryan J. Weiner and David A. Chambers

Understanding the public’s role in reducing low-value care: a scoping review

Low-value care initiatives are rapidly growing; however, it is not clear how members of the public should be involved. The objective of this scoping review was to systematically examine the literature describi...

Authors: Emma E. Sypes, Chloe de Grood, Fiona M. Clement, Jeanna Parsons Leigh, Liam Whalen-Browne, Henry T. Stelfox and Daniel J. Niven

Correction to: Systems analysis and improvement approach to optimize the hypertension diagnosis and care cascade for PLHIV individuals (SAIA-HTN): a hybrid type III cluster randomized trial

Following publication of the original article [1], the authors reported a typo in the title of the article.

Authors: Sarah Gimbel, Ana Olga Mocumbi, Kristjana Ásbjörnsdóttir, Joana Coutinho, Leonel Andela, Bonifacio Cebola, Heidi Craine, Jonny Crocker, Leecreesha Hicks, Sarah Holte, Rodrigues Hossieke, Edgar Itai, Carol Levin, Nelia Manaca, Filipe Murgorgo, Miguel Nhumba…

Assessing fidelity to evidence-based quality improvement as an implementation strategy for patient-centered medical home transformation in the Veterans Health Administration

Effective implementation strategies might facilitate patient-centered medical home (PCMH) uptake and spread by targeting barriers to change. Evidence-based quality improvement (EBQI) is a multi-faceted impleme...

Authors: Susan E. Stockdale, Alison B. Hamilton, Alicia A. Bergman, Danielle E. Rose, Karleen F. Giannitrapani, Timothy R. Dresselhaus, Elizabeth M. Yano and Lisa V. Rubenstein

Evaluating and optimizing the consolidated framework for implementation research (CFIR) for use in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review

The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) is a determinants framework that may require adaptation or contextualization to fit the needs of implementation scientists in low- and middle-incom...

Authors: Arianna Rubin Means, Christopher G. Kemp, Marie-Claire Gwayi-Chore, Sarah Gimbel, Caroline Soi, Kenneth Sherr, Bradley H. Wagenaar, Judith N. Wasserheit and Bryan J. Weiner

A qualitative study of design stakeholders’ views of developing and implementing a registry-based learning health system

New opportunities to record, collate, and analyze routine patient data have prompted optimism about the potential of learning health systems. However, real-life examples of such systems remain rare and few hav...

Authors: Mary Dixon-Woods, Anne Campbell, Trillium Chang, Graham Martin, Alexandros Georgiadis, Veronica Heney, Sarah Chew, Aricca Van Citters, Kathryn A. Sabadosa and Eugene C. Nelson

Systems analysis and improvement approach to optimize the hypertension diagnosis and care cascade for PLHIV individuals (SAIA-HTN): a hybrid type III cluster randomized trial

Across sub-Saharan Africa, evidence-based clinical guidelines to screen and manage hypertension exist; however, country level application is low due to lack of service readiness, uneven health worker motivatio...

Authors: Sarah Gimbel, Ana Olga Mocumbi, Kristjana Ásbjörnsdóttir, Joana Coutinho, Leonel Andela, Bonifacio Cebola, Heidi Craine, Jonny Crocker, Leecreesha Hicks, Sarah Holte, Rodrigues Hossieke, Edgar Itai, Carol Levin, Nelia Manaca, Filipe Murgorgo, Miguel Nhumba…

Knowledge translation strategies for dissemination with a focus on healthcare recipients: an overview of systematic reviews

While there is an ample literature on the evaluation of knowledge translation interventions aimed at healthcare providers, managers, and policy-makers, there has been less focus on patients and their informal ...

Authors: Evelina Chapman, Michelle M. Haby, Tereza Setsuko Toma, Maritsa Carla de Bortoli, Eduardo Illanes, Maria Jose Oliveros and Jorge O. Maia Barreto

The fidelity of implementation of recommended care for children with malaria by community health workers in Nigeria

In the context of task shifting, a promoted approach to healthcare delivery in resource-poor settings, trained community health workers (CHWs) have been shown to be effective in delivering quality care of mala...

Authors: Oluwatomi Adeoti, Donna Spiegelman, Chinenye Afonne, Catherine O. Falade, Ayodele S. Jegede, Frederick O. Oshiname, Melba Gomes and IkeOluwapo O. Ajayi

Adapting rapid assessment procedures for implementation research using a team-based approach to analysis: a case example of patient quality and safety interventions in the ICU

Innovations to improve quality and safety in healthcare are increasingly complex, targeting multiple disciplines and organizational levels, and often requiring significant behavior change by those delivering c...

Authors: Laura M. Holdsworth, Nadia Safaeinili, Marcy Winget, Karl A. Lorenz, Mary Lough, Steve Asch and Elizabeth Malcolm

A scoping review of full-spectrum knowledge translation theories, models, and frameworks

Application of knowledge translation (KT) theories, models, and frameworks (TMFs) is one method for successfully incorporating evidence into clinical care. However, there are multiple KT TMFs and little guidan...

Authors: Rosmin Esmail, Heather M Hanson, Jayna Holroyd-Leduc, Sage Brown, Lisa Strifler, Sharon E Straus, Daniel J. Niven and Fiona M. Clement

Testing a theory of strategic implementation leadership, implementation climate, and clinicians’ use of evidence-based practice: a 5-year panel analysis

Implementation theory suggests that first-level leaders, sometimes referred to as middle managers, can increase clinicians’ use of evidence-based practice (EBP) in healthcare settings by enacting specific lead...

Authors: Nathaniel J. Williams, Courtney Benjamin Wolk, Emily M. Becker-Haimes and Rinad S. Beidas

QuitSMART Utah: an implementation study protocol for a cluster-randomized, multi-level Sequential Multiple Assignment Randomized Trial to increase Reach and Impact of tobacco cessation treatment in Community Health Centers

Tobacco use remains the leading cause of death and disability in the USA and is disproportionately concentrated among low socioeconomic status (SES) populations. Community Health Centers (CHCs) are a key venue...

Authors: Maria E. Fernandez, Chelsey R. Schlechter, Guilherme Del Fiol, Bryan Gibson, Kensaku Kawamoto, Tracey Siaperas, Alan Pruhs, Tom Greene, Inbal Nahum-Shani, Sandra Schulthies, Marci Nelson, Claudia Bohner, Heidi Kramer, Damian Borbolla, Sharon Austin, Charlene Weir…

Addressing low-value pharmacological prescribing in primary prevention of CVD through a structured evidence-based and theory-informed process for the design and testing of de-implementation strategies: the DE-imFAR study

De-implementation or abandonment of ineffective or low-value healthcare is becoming a priority research field globally due to the growing empirical evidence of the high prevalence of such care and its impact i...

Authors: Alvaro Sanchez, Jose Ignacio Pijoan, Susana Pablo, Marta Mediavilla, Rita Sainz de Rozas, Itxasne Lekue, Susana Gonzalez-Larragan, Gaspar Lantaron, Jon Argote, Arturo García-Álvarez, Pedro Maria Latorre, Christian D. Helfrich and Gonzalo Grandes

Designing clinical practice feedback reports: three steps illustrated in Veterans Health Affairs long-term care facilities and programs

User-centered design (UCD) methods are well-established techniques for creating useful artifacts, but few studies illustrate their application to clinical feedback reports. When used as an implementation strat...

Authors: Zach Landis-Lewis, Jennifer Kononowech, Winifred J. Scott, Robert V. Hogikyan, Joan G. Carpenter, V. S. Periyakoil, Susan C. Miller, Cari Levy, Mary Ersek and Anne Sales

Overcoming barriers to evidence-based patient blood management: a restricted review

Blood transfusions are associated with a range of adverse patient outcomes, including coagulopathy, immunomodulation and haemolysis, which increase the risk of morbidity and mortality. Consideration of these r...

Authors: Alana Delaforce, Jed Duff, Judy Munday and Janet Hardy

Unpacking the complexities of de-implementing inappropriate health interventions

De-implementing inappropriate health interventions is essential for minimizing patient harm, maximizing efficient use of resources, and improving population health. Research on de-implementation has expanded i...

Authors: Wynne E. Norton and David A. Chambers

Computerized clinical decision support system for diabetes in primary care does not improve quality of care: a cluster-randomized controlled trial

The EBMeDS system is the computerized clinical decision support (CCDS) system of EBPNet, a national computerized point-of-care information service in Belgium. There is no clear evidence of more complex CCDS sy...

Authors: Annemie Heselmans, Nicolas Delvaux, Annouschka Laenen, Stijn Van de Velde, Dirk Ramaekers, Ilkka Kunnamo and Bert Aertgeerts

The sustainability of public health interventions in schools: a systematic review

The sustainability of school-based health interventions after external funds and/or other resources end has been relatively unexplored in comparison to health care. If effective interventions discontinue, new ...

Authors: Lauren Herlitz, Helen MacIntyre, Tom Osborn and Chris Bonell

Correction to: The Society for Implementation Research Collaboration Instrument Review Project: a methodology to promote rigorous evaluation

Following publication of the original article [1] the authors reported an important acknowledgement was mistakenly omitted from the ‘Acknowledgements’ section. The full acknowledgement is included in this Corr...

Authors: Cara C. Lewis, Cameo F. Stanick, Ruben G. Martinez, Bryan J. Weiner, Mimi Kim, Melanie Barwick and Katherine A. Comtois

Nurses' and auxiliary nurse midwives' adherence to essential birth practices with peer coaching in Uttar Pradesh, India: a secondary analysis of the BetterBirth trial

The BetterBirth trial tested the effect of a peer coaching program around the WHO Safe Childbirth Checklist for birth attendants in primary-level facilities in Uttar Pradesh, India on a composite measure of pe...

Authors: Rose L. Molina, Brandon J. Neal, Lauren Bobanski, Vinay Pratap Singh, Bridget A. Neville, Megan Marx Delaney, Stuart Lipsitz, Ami Karlage, Mrunal Shetye and Katherine E. A. Semrau

Implementation strategies for infection prevention and control promotion for nurses in Sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review

Despite impressive reductions in infectious disease burden within Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), half of the top ten causes of poor health or death in SSA are communicable illnesses. With emerging and re-emerging i...

Authors: Amy Elizabeth Barrera-Cancedda, Kathryn A. Riman, Julianna E. Shinnick and Alison M. Buttenheim

“The role as a champion is to not only monitor but to speak out and to educate”: the contradictory roles of hand hygiene champions

Implementation science experts define champions as “supporting, marketing, and driving through an implementation, overcoming indifference or resistance that the intervention may provoke in an organization.” Ma...

Authors: Cassie Cunningham Goedken, Daniel J. Livorsi, Michael Sauder, Mark W. Vander Weg, Emily E. Chasco, Nai-Chung Chang, Eli Perencevich and Heather Schacht Reisinger

Sustainment, Sustainability, and Spread Study (SSaSSy): protocol for a study of factors that contribute to the sustainment, sustainability, and spread of practice changes introduced through an evidence-based quality-improvement intervention in Canadian nursing homes

Implementation scientists and practitioners, alike, recognize the importance of sustaining practice change, however post-implementation studies of interventions are rare. This is a protocol for the Sustainment...

Authors: Whitney B. Berta, Adrian Wagg, Lisa Cranley, Malcolm B. Doupe, Liane Ginsburg, Matthias Hoben, Lauren MacEachern, Stephanie Chamberlain, Fiona Clement, Adam Easterbrook, Janice M. Keefe, Jennifer Knopp-Sihota, Tim Rappon, Colin Reid, Yuting Song and Carole A. Estabrooks

Identifying relevant concepts and factors for the sustainability of evidence-based practices within acute care contexts: a systematic review and theory analysis of selected sustainability frameworks

There is growing recognition among healthcare professionals that the sustainability of evidence-based practices (EBPs) within different settings is variable and suboptimal. Understanding why a particular EBP m...

Authors: Letitia Nadalin Penno, Barbara Davies, Ian D. Graham, Chantal Backman, Ibo MacDonald, Julie Bain, Alekhya Mascarenhas Johnson, Julia Moore and Janet Squires

Evaluating the implementation of the PACE Steps to Success Programme in long-term care facilities in seven countries according to the RE-AIM framework

The PACE ‘Steps to Success’ programme is a complex educational and development intervention for staff to improve palliative care in long-term care facilities (LTCFs). In a cluster randomized controlled trial, ...

Authors: Mariska Oosterveld-Vlug, Bregje Onwuteaka-Philipsen, Maud ten Koppel, Hein van Hout, Tinne Smets, Lara Pivodic, Marc Tanghe, Nele Van Den Noortgate, Jo Hockley, Sheila Payne, Danni Collingridge Moore, Violetta Kijowska, Katarzyna Szczerbińska, Marika Kylänen, Suvi Leppäaho, Claudia Mercuri…

The effectiveness of guideline implementation strategies in the dental setting: a systematic review

Guideline implementation has been an ongoing challenge in the dental practice setting. Despite this, there are no reviews summarising the existing evidence regarding effective guideline implementation strategi...

Authors: Amy R. Villarosa, Della Maneze, Lucie M. Ramjan, Ravi Srinivas, Michelle Camilleri and Ajesh George

Adapting evidence-informed complex population health interventions for new contexts: a systematic review of guidance

Adapting interventions that have worked elsewhere can save resources associated with developing new interventions for each specific context. While a developing body of evidence shows benefits of adapted interv...

Authors: A. Movsisyan, L. Arnold, R. Evans, B. Hallingberg, G. Moore, A. O’Cathain, L. M. Pfadenhauer, J. Segrott and E. Rehfuess

Process evaluation of a complex intervention to optimize quality of prescribing in nursing homes (COME-ON study)

The COME-ON study was a cluster-controlled trial of a complex intervention that consisted of a blended training program, local interdisciplinary meetings, and interdisciplinary case conferences in Belgian nurs...

Authors: Pauline Anrys, Goedele Strauven, Sandrine Roussel, Marie Vande Ginste, Jan De Lepeleire, Veerle Foulon and Anne Spinewine

Harnessing the power of theorising in implementation science

Theories occupy different positions in the scientific circle of enquiry as they vary in scope, abstraction, and complexity. Mid-range theories play a crucial bridging role between raw empirical observations an...

Authors: Roman Kislov, Catherine Pope, Graham P. Martin and Paul M. Wilson

Action, actor, context, target, time (AACTT): a framework for specifying behaviour

Designing implementation interventions to change the behaviour of healthcare providers and other professionals in the health system requires detailed specification of the behaviour(s) targeted for change to en...

Authors: Justin Presseau, Nicola McCleary, Fabiana Lorencatto, Andrea M. Patey, Jeremy M. Grimshaw and Jill J. Francis

The impact of basic vs. enhanced Go NAPSACC on child care centers’ healthy eating and physical activity practices: protocol for a type 3 hybrid effectiveness-implementation cluster-randomized trial

To prevent childhood obesity and promote healthy development, health authorities recommend that child care programs use the evidence-based practices that foster healthy eating and physical habits in children. ...

Authors: Amber E. Vaughn, Christina R. Studts, Byron J. Powell, Alice S. Ammerman, Justin G. Trogdon, Geoffrey M. Curran, Derek Hales, Erik Willis and Dianne S. Ward

Does increased implementation support improve community clinics’ guideline-concordant care? Results of a mixed methods, pragmatic comparative effectiveness trial

Disseminating care guidelines into clinical practice remains challenging, partly due to inadequate evidence on how best to help clinics incorporate new guidelines into routine care. This is particularly true i...

Authors: Rachel Gold, Arwen Bunce, Stuart Cowburn, James V. Davis, Joan C. Nelson, Christine A. Nelson, Elisabeth Hicks, Deborah J. Cohen, Michael A. Horberg, Gerardo Melgar, James W. Dearing, Janet Seabrook, Ned Mossman and Joanna Bulkley

Targeting adaptability to improve Medication Therapy Management (MTM) implementation in community pharmacy

(1) To develop an adaptation framework for MTM delivery for pharmacists (the MTM Adaptability Framework), (2) to examine the impact of an educational intervention informed by the MTM Adaptability Framework on ...

Authors: Kenneth C. Hohmeier, James S. Wheeler, Kea Turner, Jarrod S. Vick, Merrill L. Marchetti, Jeremy Crain and Andrea Brookhart

Can a multicomponent multidisciplinary implementation package change physicians’ and nurses’ perceptions and practices regarding thrombolysis for acute ischemic stroke? An exploratory analysis of a cluster-randomized trial

The Thrombolysis ImPlementation in Stroke (TIPS) trial tested the effect of a multicomponent, multidisciplinary, collaborative intervention designed to increase the rates of intravenous thrombolysis via a clus...

Authors: Md Golam Hasnain, Christopher R. Levi, Annika Ryan, Isobel J. Hubbard, Alix Hall, Christopher Oldmeadow, Alice Grady, Amanda Jayakody, John R. Attia and Christine L. Paul

Building capacity: a cross-sectional evaluation of the US Training Institute for Dissemination and Implementation Research in Health

In 2011, the National Institute of Health (NIH) initiated the Training in Dissemination and Implementation Research in Health (TIDIRH) program. Over its first 5 years, TIDIRH provided an in-person, week-long t...

Authors: Cynthia A. Vinson, Mindy Clyne, Nina Cardoza and Karen M. Emmons

The role of the outer setting in implementation: associations between state demographic, fiscal, and policy factors and use of evidence-based treatments in mental healthcare

Despite consistent recognition of their influence, empirical study of how outer setting factors (e.g., policies, financing, stakeholder relationships) influence public systems’ investment in and adoption of ev...

Authors: Eric J. Bruns, Elizabeth M. Parker, Spencer Hensley, Michael D. Pullmann, Philip H. Benjamin, Aaron R. Lyon and Kimberly E. Hoagwood

Investigation of factors influencing the implementation of two shared decision-making interventions in contraceptive care: a qualitative interview study among clinical and administrative staff

There is limited evidence on how to implement shared decision-making (SDM) interventions in routine practice. We conducted a qualitative study, embedded within a 2 × 2 factorial cluster randomized controlled t...

Authors: Sarah Munro, Ruth Manski, Kyla Z. Donnelly, Daniela Agusti, Gabrielle Stevens, Michelle Banach, Maureen B. Boardman, Pearl Brady, Chrissy Colón Bradt, Tina Foster, Deborah J. Johnson, Judy Norsigian, Melissa Nothnagle, Heather L. Shepherd, Lisa Stern, Lyndal Trevena…

Implementation of a behavioral medicine approach in physiotherapy: a process evaluation of facilitation methods

In a quasi-experimental study, facilitation was used to support implementation of the behavioral medicine approach in physiotherapy. The facilitation consisted of an individually tailored multifaceted interven...

Authors: Johanna Fritz, Lars Wallin, Anne Söderlund, Lena Almqvist and Maria Sandborgh

Elucidating the influence of supervisors’ roles on implementation climate

Supervisors play an essential role in implementation by diffusing and synthesizing information, selling implementation, and translating top management’s project plans to frontline workers. Theory and emerging ...

Authors: Alicia C. Bunger, Sarah A. Birken, Jill A. Hoffman, Hannah MacDowell, Mimi Choy-Brown and Erica Magier