Standards for Reporting Implementation Studies (StaRI) Statement
Implementation studies are often poorly reported and indexed, reducing their potential to inform initiatives to improve healthcare services. The Standards for Reporting Implementation Studies (StaRI) initiative aimed to develop guidelines for transparent and accurate reporting of implementation studies. Informed by the findings of a systematic review and a consensus-building e-Delphi exercise, an international working group […]
The effectiveness of evidence summaries on health policymakers and health system managers use of evidence from systematic reviews: a systematic review
Systematic reviews are important for decision makers. They offer many potential benefits but are often written in technical language, are too long, and do not contain contextual details which make them hard to use for decision-making. There are many organizations that develop and disseminate derivative products, such as evidence summaries, from systematic reviews for different […]
Dean’s Note on Implementation
Since 2000, a number of studies have estimated the average time between research and implementation of action based on this research to be a period of about 17 years. On top of this nearly two-decade delay, the process of implementation is further complicated by the observation that many innovations never reach the point of continuous, […]
Barriers and enablers to guideline implementation strategies to improve obstetric care practice in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review of qualitative evidence
Maternal mortality remains a major international health problem in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), and most could have been prevented by quality improvement interventions already demonstrated to be effective, such as clinical guideline implementation strategies. The aim of this systematic review was to synthesise qualitative evidence on guideline implementation strategies to improve obstetric care practice […]
Factors affecting implementation of perinatal mental health screening in women of refugee background
For women of refugee background, the increased risk of mental illness associated with pregnancy is compounded by pre- and post-settlement stressors. In Australia, antenatal screening for depression and anxiety symptoms using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale is recommended for all women. Despite this, screening is not routinely implemented and little is known about barriers and […]
Implementation of the BETTER 2 program: a qualitative study exploring barriers and facilitators of a novel way to improve chronic disease prevention and screening in primary care
BETTER (Building on Existing Tools to Improve Chronic Disease Prevention and Screening in Primary Care) is a patient-based intervention to improve chronic disease prevention and screening (CDPS) for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and associated lifestyle factors in patients aged 40 to 65. The key component of BETTER is a prevention practitioner (PP), a health care […]
A Theory-Based Process Evaluation Alongside A Randomised Controlled Trial Of Printed Educational Messages To Increase Primary Care Physicians’ Prescription Of Thiazide Diuretics For Hypertension
Pragmatic trials of implementation interventions focus on evaluating whether an intervention changes professional behaviour under real-world conditions rather than investigating the mechanism through which change occurs. Theory-based process evaluations conducted alongside pragmatic randomised trials address this by assessing whether the intervention changes theoretical constructs proposed to mediate change. The Ontario Printed Educational Materials (PEM) cluster […]
Why is it so hard to implement change? A qualitative examination of barriers and facilitators to distribution of naloxone for overdose prevention in a safety net environment
The distribution of take home kits of naloxone, an opioid reversal drug, has been shown to be an effective and practical public health intervention to combat the large number of overdose deaths, an epidemic in the United States. However, when one safety net hospital emergency department attempted to increase naloxone kits availability to 24/7, the […]
A Practical Implementation Science Heuristic for Organizational Readiness: R = MC^2
When implementing new innovations, why do some organizations succeed and others fail? Organizational readiness may be a key factor. In this article, A practical implementation science heuristic for organizational readiness: R=MC2, authors propose a new model for understanding and assessing organizational readiness, shortened to the phrase “R=MC2” Building upon previous readiness models, R=MC2 takes into […]
The Balance Between Adaptation and Fidelity
Whenever you are implementing an intervention, there will always be the battle between fidelity and adaptation. Depending on the environment you are in, there might need to be certain changes to your implementation strategy. However, one must be cautious to not corrupt the theoretical basis of an intervention. If an intervention is deployed incorrectly because […]