About this Research Topic
The development, or selection and tailoring, of implementation strategies to integrate evidence-based practices, policies and programs into real-world settings are central to public health research and practice. While there have been substantial advances in the identification and categorization of implementation strategies over the last several years, and some general guidance about how to select strategies, public health practitioners and researchers alike continue to struggle with several challenges. These include questions about how to use theory and frameworks to inform decisions, what the mechanisms of action are that create change, and how to map implementation strategies to address needs, among others.
Implementation Mapping is a systematic approach for developing or selecting and tailoring strategies to increase adoption, implementation, and sustainment of evidence-based intervention, practices, and policies. While it has been used previously as a step in the comprehensive Intervention Mapping framework, it was described as an approach for planning implementation strategies in a publication in Frontiers in Public Health on June, 2-19 as part of the Methods and Applications in Implementation Science special topics issue. Since then, Implementation Mapping has generated substantial enthusiasm in the field.
This special topic issue will include manuscripts focusing on both Implementation Mapping methods and applications in real-world settings. Methods topics can include description and examples of how Implementation Mapping can guide: 1) the use of theory in the development of implementation strategies, 2) use of Logic Models to identify and describe the mechanism of action, 3) the development of implementation research questions, 4) the design of studies to evaluate implementation strategies, 5) how to integrate community engagement in planning strategies to enhance implementation, and sustainment and 6) how to plan for broad scale-up and spread.
Other manuscripts will provide examples of the application of Implementation Mapping in community and healthcare settings including, but not limited to examples of the use of Implementation Mapping to: 1) plan implementation strategies in low- and middle-income countries, 2) develop and test implementation strategies to improve health equity, and 3) plan policy implementation, among others. Examples should be widely applicable across settings and populations, and contribute to bridging the research to practice gap to improve public health and health equity.
Implementation Mapping is a systematic approach for developing or selecting and tailoring strategies to increase adoption, implementation, and sustainment of evidence-based intervention, practices, and policies. While it has been used previously as a step in the comprehensive Intervention Mapping framework, it was described as an approach for planning implementation strategies in a publication in Frontiers in Public Health on June, 2-19 as part of the Methods and Applications in Implementation Science special topics issue. Since then, Implementation Mapping has generated substantial enthusiasm in the field.
This special topic issue will include manuscripts focusing on both Implementation Mapping methods and applications in real-world settings. Methods topics can include description and examples of how Implementation Mapping can guide: 1) the use of theory in the development of implementation strategies, 2) use of Logic Models to identify and describe the mechanism of action, 3) the development of implementation research questions, 4) the design of studies to evaluate implementation strategies, 5) how to integrate community engagement in planning strategies to enhance implementation, and sustainment and 6) how to plan for broad scale-up and spread.
Other manuscripts will provide examples of the application of Implementation Mapping in community and healthcare settings including, but not limited to examples of the use of Implementation Mapping to: 1) plan implementation strategies in low- and middle-income countries, 2) develop and test implementation strategies to improve health equity, and 3) plan policy implementation, among others. Examples should be widely applicable across settings and populations, and contribute to bridging the research to practice gap to improve public health and health equity.
Keywords: Implementation Mapping, evidence-based intervention, Implementation Strategies, Adapting and Developing Implementation Strategies
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
