Articles

Reducing catheter-associated urinary tract infections: a systematic review of barriers and facilitators and strategic behavioural analysis of interventions

Reducing the need for antibiotics is crucial in addressing the global threat of antimicrobial resistance. Catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) is one of the most frequent device-related infectio...

Authors: Lou Atkins, Anna Sallis, Tim Chadborn, Karen Shaw, Annegret Schneider, Susan Hopkins, Amanda Bunten, Susan Michie and Fabiana Lorencatto

Building knowledge translation competency in a community-based hospital: a practice-informed curriculum for healthcare providers, researchers, and leadership

Enacting knowledge translation (KT) in healthcare settings is a complex process that requires organizational facilitation. In addition to addressing organizational-level barriers, targeting individual-level fa...

Authors: Christine Provvidenza, Ashleigh Townley, Joanne Wincentak, Sean Peacocke and Shauna Kingsnorth

Characterizing evolving frameworks: issues from Esmail et al. (2020) review

There are complex issues in understanding and categorizing implementation science theories, models, and frameworks. Systematic reviews of these models are important undertakings for synthesizing current knowle...

Authors: Russell E. Glasgow, Paul A. Estabrooks and Marcia G. Ory

Response to letter to the editor

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

Effectiveness of reminders to sustain practice change among direct care providers in residential care facilities: a cluster randomized controlled trial

The study purpose was to compare the effectiveness of monthly or quarterly peer reminder knowledge translation interventions, with monthly or quarterly paper-based reminders, to sustain a mobility innovation, ...

Authors: Susan E. Slaughter, Misha Eliasziw, Carla Ickert, C. Allyson Jones, Carole A. Estabrooks and Adrian S. Wagg

Nudge strategies to improve healthcare providers’ implementation of evidence-based guidelines, policies and practices: a systematic review of trials included within Cochrane systematic reviews

Nudge interventions are those that seek to modify the social and physical environment to enhance capacity for subconscious behaviours that align with the intrinsic values of an individual, without actively res...

Authors: Sze Lin Yoong, Alix Hall, Fiona Stacey, Alice Grady, Rachel Sutherland, Rebecca Wyse, Amy Anderson, Nicole Nathan and Luke Wolfenden

Prevention of health care associated venous thromboembolism through implementing VTE prevention clinical practice guidelines in hospitalized medical patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in hospitalized patients. Numerous VTE prevention clinical practice guidelines are available but not consistently implemented. This sy...

Authors: Juliana Abboud, Abir Abdel Rahman, Lara Kahale, Martin Dempster and Pauline Adair

Tracking implementation strategies in the randomized rollout of a Veterans Affairs national opioid risk management initiative

In 2018, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) issued Notice 2018-08 requiring facilities to complete “case reviews” for Veterans identified in the Stratification Tool for Opioid Risk Mitigation (STORM) dash...

Authors: Shari S. Rogal, Matthew Chinman, Walid F. Gellad, Maria K. Mor, Hongwei Zhang, Sharon A. McCarthy, Genna T. Mauro, Jennifer A. Hale, Eleanor T. Lewis, Elizabeth M. Oliva, Jodie A. Trafton, Vera Yakovchenko, Adam J. Gordon and Leslie R. M. Hausmann

Quantitative measures of health policy implementation determinants and outcomes: a systematic review

Public policy has tremendous impacts on population health. While policy development has been extensively studied, policy implementation research is newer and relies largely on qualitative methods. Quantitative...

Authors: Peg Allen, Meagan Pilar, Callie Walsh-Bailey, Cole Hooley, Stephanie Mazzucca, Cara C. Lewis, Kayne D. Mettert, Caitlin N. Dorsey, Jonathan Purtle, Maura M. Kepper, Ana A. Baumann and Ross C. Brownson

Audit and feedback to improve laboratory test and transfusion ordering in critical care: a systematic review

Laboratory tests and transfusions are sometimes ordered inappropriately, particularly in the critical care setting, which sees frequent use of both. Audit and Feedback (A&F) is a potentially useful interventio...

Authors: Madison Foster, Justin Presseau, Nicola McCleary, Kelly Carroll, Lauralyn McIntyre, Brian Hutton and Jamie Brehaut

Impetus to change: a multi-site qualitative exploration of the national audit of dementia

National audit is a key strategy used to improve care for patients with dementia. Audit and feedback has been shown to be effective, but with variation in how much it improves care. Both evidence and theory id...

Authors: Michael Sykes, Richard Thomson, Niina Kolehmainen, Louise Allan and Tracy Finch

Contracting as a bridging factor linking outer and inner contexts during EBP implementation and sustainment: a prospective study across multiple U.S. public sector service systems

Bridging factors are relational ties (e.g. partnerships), formal arrangements (e.g. contracts or polices) and processes (e.g. data sharing agreements) linking outer and inner contexts and are a recent evolutio...

Authors: Rebecca Lengnick-Hall, Cathleen Willging, Michael Hurlburt, Karissa Fenwick and Gregory A. Aarons

Implementation science in times of Covid-19

The emergence of SARS-CoV-2/Covid-19 affects all of us and is associated with rapid and massive changes in healthcare and societies. As a response, a range of interventions for patients and populations have be...

Authors: Michel Wensing, Anne Sales, Rebecca Armstrong and Paul Wilson

Effectiveness of guideline dissemination and implementation strategies on health care professionals’ behaviour and patient outcomes in the cancer care context: a systematic review

Health care professionals (HCPs) use clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) to make evidence-informed decisions regarding patient care. Although a large number of cancer-related CPGs exist, it is unknown which CP...

Authors: Jennifer R. Tomasone, Kaitlyn D. Kauffeldt, Rushil Chaudhary and Melissa C. Brouwers

Effectiveness of training methods for delivery of evidence-based psychotherapies: a systematic review

Extensive efforts have been made to train mental health providers in evidence-based psychotherapies (EBPs); there is increasing attention focused on the methods through which providers are trained to deliver E...

Authors: Helen Valenstein-Mah, Nancy Greer, Lauren McKenzie, Lucas Hansen, Thad Q. Strom, Shannon Wiltsey Stirman, Timothy J. Wilt and Shannon M. Kehle-Forbes

Clinicians’ attitudes and perceived barriers and facilitators to cancer treatment clinical practice guideline adherence: a systematic review of qualitative and quantitative literature

Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPGs) synthesize the best available evidence to guide clinician and patient decision making. There are a multitude of barriers and facilitators to clinicians adhering to CPGs; how...

Authors: Mia Bierbaum, Frances Rapport, Gaston Arnolda, Brona Nic Giolla Easpaig, Klay Lamprell, Karen Hutchinson, Geoff P. Delaney, Winston Liauw, Richard Kefford, Ian Olver and Jeffrey Braithwaite

Effects of de-implementation strategies aimed at reducing low-value nursing procedures: a systematic review and meta-analysis

In the last decade, there is an increasing focus on detecting and compiling lists of low-value nursing procedures. However, less is known about effective de-implementation strategies for these procedures. Ther...

Authors: Tessa Rietbergen, Denise Spoon, Anja H. Brunsveld-Reinders, Jan W. Schoones, Anita Huis, Maud Heinen, Anke Persoon, Monique van Dijk, Hester Vermeulen, Erwin Ista and Leti van Bodegom-Vos

Use of the GRADE approach in health policymaking and evaluation: a scoping review of nutrition and physical activity policies

Nutrition and physical activity policies have the potential to influence lifestyle patterns and reduce the burden of non-communicable diseases. In the world of health-related guidelines, GRADE (Grading of Reco...

Authors: Jasmin Zähringer, Lukas Schwingshackl, Ani Movsisyan, Jan M. Stratil, Sara Capacci, Jürgen M. Steinacker, Sarah Forberger, Wolfgang Ahrens, Daniela Küllenberg de Gaudry, Holger J. Schünemann and Joerg J. Meerpohl

Correction to: Guideline-based quality indicators—a systematic comparison of German and international clinical practice guidelines

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.

Authors: Monika Becker, Jessica Breuing, Monika Nothacker, Stefanie Deckert, Marie Brombach, Jochen Schmitt, Edmund Neugebauer and Dawid Pieper

Optimising and profiling pre-implementation contexts to create and implement a public health network intervention for tackling loneliness

The implementation of complex interventions experiences challenges that affect the extent to which they become embedded and scaled-up. Implementation at scale in complex environments like community settings de...

Authors: J. Ellis, R. Band, K. Kinsella, T. Cheetham-Blake, E. James, S. Ewings and A. Rogers

Development of an intervention to facilitate implementation and uptake of diabetic retinopathy screening

‘Implementation interventions’ refer to methods used to enhance the adoption and implementation of clinical interventions such as diabetic retinopathy screening (DRS). DRS is effective, yet uptake is often sub...

Authors: Fiona Riordan, Emmy Racine, Eunice T. Phillip, Colin Bradley, Fabiana Lorencatto, Mark Murphy, Aileen Murphy, John Browne, Susan M. Smith, Patricia M. Kearney and Sheena M. McHugh

Impact of a change of bronchodilator medications in a hospital drug formulary on intra- and out-of-hospital drug prescriptions: interrupted time series design with comparison group

Hospital drug formularies are reduced lists of drugs designed to optimise inpatient care. Adherence to the drugs included in such formularies is not always 100% but is generally very high. Little research has ...

Authors: Raquel Vázquez-Mourelle, Eduardo Carracedo-Martínez and Adolfo Figueiras

Analysis of the implementation of a community-based intervention to control dengue fever in Burkina Faso

A community-based dengue fever intervention was implemented in Burkina Faso in 2017. The results achieved vary from one area to another. The objective of this article is to analyze the implementation of this i...

Authors: Issa Sombié, Stéphanie Degroote, Paul André Somé and Valéry Ridde

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