Training
National Institutes of Health (NIH) Training Institute on Dissemination and Implementation Research in Health (TIDIRH)
NIH and VA sponsor this 5-day training institute (3 days on-line; 2 in-person) to provide participants with a thorough grounding in conducting dissemination and implementation research in health. Faculty and guest lecturers will consist of leading experts (practitioners and teachers) in theory, implementation and evaluation approaches to D&I, creating partnerships and multi-level, trans-disciplinary research teams, research design, methods and analyses appropriate for D&I investigations and conducting research at different and multiple levels of intervention (e.g., clinical, community, policy).
Implementation Research Institute
The Implementation Research Institute (IRI) was established to advance the field of implementation science in mental health by enhancing the career development of early to mid-career investigators. The IRI is a unique interdisciplinary training program that will help you launch a research career in implementation science.
Degree Programs
Washington University in St. Louis
Masters of Science in Clinical Investigation (MSCI) degree or Certificate with a concentration in Dissemination in Implementation Research (D&I).
University of Colorado
University of Colorado ACCORDS Dissemination and Implementation (D&I) Science Certificate
Certificate will provide real-world training in D&I science and practice which can be applied across multiple topic areas and settings in health services, clinical and community health, and public health research – it consists of 12 credit hours of courses taught University of Colorado faculty who are national leaders in the D&I science field.
University of Washington
PhD in Global Health Metrics and Implementation Science
The interdisciplinary implementation science framework includes systems analysis and improvement techniques; innovative designs to measure impact; economic analysis; and policy research to inform the formulation, implementation, and scale-up of improved delivery approaches. Dissertation projects will involve the development, implementation, and evaluation of approaches to improve the capacity of health systems to deliver evidence-based interventions of importance in global health. Because of the applied nature of this area of emphasis, it is expected that implementation science doctoral projects will involve primary data collection. Topics within implementation science doctoral research use scientific methods to design, implement, and evaluate solutions to real-world health problems in global health.
University of California San Francisco
Certificate Program in Implementation Science: Translating Evidence into Practice, Policy and Theory
This one-year, part-time program offers a series of courses focused on applied methods of implementation, particularly as they relate to developing more effective interventions to translate specific evidence-based findings into everyday practice. The program is designed for people from a broad range of professional settings who are currently engaged in the development, implementation, and evaluation of programs to promote and improve health and health care quality, including clinical and public health researchers, quality improvement officers, community-based clinic staff, public health and public policy practitioners, and clinicians.
Master’s Degree Program in Clinical Research, Implementation Science Track
The Master’s Degree Program in Clinical Research is a two-year course of study intended for scholars who wish to master clinical research methods and pursue clinical research careers. Clinical research is defined broadly as any health-related research where individual human beings or groups of human beings are the unit of observation. This includes patient-oriented, translational, epidemiologic, comparative effectiveness, behavioral, outcomes, or health services research. Program graduates are poised to work in a variety of research settings, including universities, public health departments, foundations, and private industry. Regardless of setting, the program strives to train individuals who will become leaders of research efforts and teams
Online Courses and Certificate Program in Implementation Science
The Online Certificate Program is a part-time program consisting of a series of six online courses focused on theories and methods relevant to the design of strategies to facilitate uptake of health-related interventions. Scholars can choose to take individual courses instead of completing all six courses required for the Certificate. The Online Courses and Certificate program are designed for people from a broad range of professional settings who are currently engaged in the development, implementation, and evaluation of strategies to promote and improve health and health care quality, including clinical and public health researchers, quality improvement officers, community-based clinic staff, public health and public policy practitioners, and clinicians. We welcome trainees who work in clinical and public health settings outside the U.S.
Fellowships
AcademyHealth Delivery System Science Fellowship
The AcademyHealth Delivery System Science Fellowship (DSSF) provides a paid post-doctoral learning experience to help researchers gain more applied experience conducting research in delivery system settings. The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is one of the integrated delivery systems that participates in this fellowship program.
PRACCTIS: Prevention and Control of Cancer Post-Doctoral Training in Implementation Science
PRACCTIS is a full-time NCI-funded post-doctoral fellowship training program designed to provide the next generation of cancer prevention and control researchers with the knowledge and skill sets to eliminate gaps in the translation of research to practice along the cancer continuum, including prevention of disease, early detection, diagnosis, treatment and survivorship. This 2-3 year program emphasizes didactic training in implementation science and mentored research opportunities and provides access to a wide array of training and enrichment opportunities on the UMass Medical School campus. We emphasize training independent investigators who will become leaders in cancer prevention and control implementation science research.
Conferences
NIH Conference on the Science of Dissemination and Implementation
Co-hosted by AcademyHealth and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), this annual conference is a forum for discussing the science of dissemination and implementation. It aims to grow the research base by bridging the gap between evidence, practice, and policy in health and medicine.
Global Evidence and Implementation Summit
The Global Evidence and Implementation Summit (GEIS) 2018 will bring together world leaders in the generation and use of rigorous evidence in policy and programs. GEIS 2018 will reach more than 600 delegates from 30 countries, making it the largest event of its kind globally. The summit will share the latest evidence synthesis and implementation science research and practice strategies for improving the lives of individuals, families and communities worldwide.
Online Tools / Databases
Dissemination and Implementation at Washington University in St. Louis – Toolkits
These toolkits were designed to help beginner D&I researchers to: become familiar with the field of D&I science in the continuum of research; to understand key D&I science terms and use them in planning and carrying out D&I research; and to enable users to find additional introductory D&I science resources beyond this toolkit.
Make Research Matter online toolkit
MRM is an online toolkit that assists developers of public health and health services research interventions increase the D&I potential of their interventions. The toolkit was developed building on the expertise of D&I researchers and existing literature about D&I, and was funded by the National Cancer Institute.
State Implementation & Scaling-up of Evidence-based Practices Center, UNC
The State Implementation and Scaling-up of Evidence-based Practices (SISEP) Center is a national technical assistance center funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs.
The Active Implementation Hub
The Active Implementation Hub is a free, online learning environment for use by any stakeholder — practitioners, educators, coaches, trainers, purveyors — involved in active implementation and scaling up of programs and innovations. The site goal is to increase the knowledge and improve the performance of persons engaged in actively implementing any program or practice.
The SIRC Instrument Review Project (IRP): A Systematic Review & Synthesis of Implementation Science Instruments
The overarching aim of the SIRC Instrument Review Project (IRP) is to conduct a systematic review and synthesis of D&I instruments pulling, not only from published work, but also utilizing existing D&I research networks to obtain instruments in earlier phases of development.
List of Journals where D&I articles can be published
The need to disseminate improvement research in peer-reviewed literature is widespread. Dissemination of QI initiatives will aid in the wide spread implementation of effective improvement strategies. However, clinical researchers and academic researchers alike are having difficulty in identifying target journal for the publication of their improvement strategies.
D&I Modeling System
This interactive website was designed to help researchers and practitioners to select the D&I Model that best fits their research question or practice problem, adapt the model to the study or practice context, fully integrate the model into the research or practice process, and find existing measurement instruments for the model constructs. The term ‘Model’ is used to refer to both theories and frameworks that make the dissemination and implementation of evidence-based interventions more likely.
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality – Fact Sheets
Clinical Directors Network
CDN’s overall goal is to translate clinical research into clinical practice for the enhancement of health equity and improvement of public health. Has webcasts on this site.
Implementation Research Guide for LMICs
The Implementation Research in Health Guide was created with the aim of boosting implementation research capacity, particularly in LMICs. Intended for newcomers to the field, those already conducting implementation research, and those with responsibility for implementing programmers, the Guide provides an introduction to basic implementation research concepts and language, briefly outlines what it involves, and describes the many exciting opportunities that it presents.
TDR: Implementation Research Toolkit
Implementation research is conducted within routine systems and real life settings, removed from the controlled settings associated with other types of scientific research. This toolkit was designed to help people learn a standard process that would lead to results that could be compared across regions and countries. It is designed to help identify system bottlenecks and the stakeholders to be involved, formulate appropriate research questions, conduct the research and develop a plan for implementing the study results.
Systematic Reviews
The Community Guide
The Guide to Community Preventive Services is a free resource to help you choose programs and policies to improve health and prevent disease in your community. Systematic reviews are used to answer these questions:
- Which program and policy interventions have been proven effective?
- Are there effective interventions that are right for my community?
- What might effective interventions cost; what is the likely return on investment?
Cochrane Public Health Group
The Cochrane Public Health Group (CPHG) works with individuals and teams internationally to produce and publish Cochrane reviews of the effects of population-level public health interventions. We support, facilitate, edit and publish systematic reviews of population level interventions that address the structural and social determinants of health, qualitative questions relevant to public health, and other questions that need an unbiased thorough approach for publication on The Cochrane Library.
Centre for Reviews and Dissemination
The CRD provides research-based information about the effects of health and social care interventions via our databases and undertake systematic reviews evaluating the research evidence on health and public health questions of national and international importance. The findings of our research outputs are widely disseminated and have impacted on health care policy and practice, both in the UK and internationally. Has an international focus.
Campbell Collaboration
The Campbell Collaboration is an international research network that produces systematic reviews of the effects of social interventions in Crime & Justice, Education, International Development, and Social Welfare.
Funding Opportunities
Donaghue Medical Research Foundation
The Patrick and Catherine Weldon Donaghue Medical Research Foundation provides grants for medical research of practical benefit. It focuses on initiatives to strengthen research on health issues, promote research leadership, and put new knowledge to work for public benefit. The Donaghue Foundation was established in 1991 by the will of Ethel Donaghue in memory of her parents.
Quality Enhancement Research Initiative
In coordination with the VA Cooperative Studies Program (CSP), QUERI has developed a supplemental funding program for current or recently completed VA Cooperative Studies to support the design and advancement of “implementation-ready” clinical treatments of proven effectiveness to ultimately reduce the gap between research and clinical practice.
Sample Grants from funded D&I Research Proposals
A selection of grant proposals from investigators who have been funded through the Dissemination and Implementation Research in Health (DIRH) Study Section, as well as through a selection of other funding agencies and mechanisms.
Miscellaneous
Implementation Science News Website – subscribe to newsletter for the latest from the field of implementation science