The selection and design of implementation strategies to embed research-supported interventions - be they practices, programmes or policies - in routine health care is a central topic in implementation science and practice. In acknowledging the often complex and diverse service settings in which strategies are being used and tested, “tailoring” has been highlighted as a potential pathway towards improved implementation. “Tailoring” describes the process of prospectively adjusting implementation strategies to contextual conditions in efforts to enhance the likeliness of a successful uptake and use of evidence in routine health care and involves (1) identifying determinants of practice; (2) matching strategies to determinants; and (3) applying implementation strategies and assessing their outcomes.
While tailoring has been embraced as a both distinct and promising strategy in many implementation studies, our understanding of how tailoring works remains scarce. Few theoretical/ conceptual contributions exist that detail the mechanisms that explain how tailoring may help to improve implementation and what exactly it implies. Furthermore, since Baker et al. (2015) published their seminal systematic review on tailoring, the growth in empirical studies documenting the effectiveness of tailoring strategies has been limited. This means that there is still an only rudimentary understanding of what tailoring is, how it can be operationalised and practiced, and why it might work. Previous calls for a better conceptualisation and modelling of tailoring, and more research on both the components and the effectiveness of tailoring (Baker et al., 2015) therefore remain relevant.
This collection aims at contributing to closing this gap. This collection will include manuscripts focused on (1) the development of theory and models aimed at clarifying and explaining the role of tailoring in implementation; (2) methods and approaches aimed at structuring, guiding, or monitoring tailoring processes and practice in different healthcare service settings; and (3) empirical studies examining the potential and possible limitations of tailoring efforts in these settings, including studies reporting on, e.g., different aspects of tailoring processes (such as stakeholder engagement in tailoring, tailoring in cross-cultural implementation settings, or measuring and reporting tailoring), the effect of tailoring on implementation, service or patient outcomes and the economic implications of tailoring activities. Studies conducted in high as well as low and middle income countries are welcome.
The selection and design of implementation strategies to embed research-supported interventions - be they practices, programmes or policies - in routine health care is a central topic in implementation science and practice. In acknowledging the often complex and diverse service settings in which strategies are being used and tested, “tailoring” has been highlighted as a potential pathway towards improved implementation. “Tailoring” describes the process of prospectively adjusting implementation strategies to contextual conditions in efforts to enhance the likeliness of a successful uptake and use of evidence in routine health care and involves (1) identifying determinants of practice; (2) matching strategies to determinants; and (3) applying implementation strategies and assessing their outcomes.
While tailoring has been embraced as a both distinct and promising strategy in many implementation studies, our understanding of how tailoring works remains scarce. Few theoretical/ conceptual contributions exist that detail the mechanisms that explain how tailoring may help to improve implementation and what exactly it implies. Furthermore, since Baker et al. (2015) published their seminal systematic review on tailoring, the growth in empirical studies documenting the effectiveness of tailoring strategies has been limited. This means that there is still an only rudimentary understanding of what tailoring is, how it can be operationalised and practiced, and why it might work. Previous calls for a better conceptualisation and modelling of tailoring, and more research on both the components and the effectiveness of tailoring (Baker et al., 2015) therefore remain relevant.
This collection aims at contributing to closing this gap. This collection will include manuscripts focused on (1) the development of theory and models aimed at clarifying and explaining the role of tailoring in implementation; (2) methods and approaches aimed at structuring, guiding, or monitoring tailoring processes and practice in different healthcare service settings; and (3) empirical studies examining the potential and possible limitations of tailoring efforts in these settings, including studies reporting on, e.g., different aspects of tailoring processes (such as stakeholder engagement in tailoring, tailoring in cross-cultural implementation settings, or measuring and reporting tailoring), the effect of tailoring on implementation, service or patient outcomes and the economic implications of tailoring activities. Studies conducted in high as well as low and middle income countries are welcome.