This Research Topic is launched in collaboration with the
5th UK Implementation Science Research Conference, organized by the National Institute for Health Research Applied Research Collaboration South London.
Research in implementation science is based on four pillars of tools: (1) Theories, models, and frameworks; (2) Strategies; (3) Measures of implementation process and outcomes; and (4) Research methods. The first pillar of implementation science is the generation and application of theories, models, and frameworks to describe, explain, understand and evaluate barriers, facilitators, processes, and outcomes of implementation. Theories, models, and frameworks have emerged within implementation science itself but also from other fields such as psychology, organizational theory, and sociology. The second pillar is the development and application of supportive strategies for facilitating the implementation. These should ideally reduce existing barriers and harness facilitators to implementation. The third pillar is the assessment of the process and outcomes of implementation. Measures are needed to document the process and outcomes, including the effectiveness of various strategies. The fourth pillar of implementation science is the use of appropriate research methods to study implementation. Typically, implementation science employs both quantitative and qualitative methods.
Considering the complexity of implementation of health services in various areas of an ever-changing society, the field could benefit from innovation and further development of the four sets of tools. Implementation science has medical origins in the evidence-based movement, yet real-world implementation has been found to be highly context-dependent, pointing to the importance of a social science perspective to understand how humans and organizations act and interact in their social environment. This Research Topic, therefore, calls for papers that are based on innovative and perhaps less traditional tools to study implementation. We hope that the special issue will provide a better understanding of implementation challenges in various areas of society and how to close the research-practice gap, thus progressing the research field through new findings, lessons, insights, and perspectives. We welcome:
• Papers developing or applying theories, models, and frameworks for improved understanding of influences on implementation less commonly studied in implementation science, e.g. habits, routines, and various collective-level influences, e.g. culture or climate, as well as studies to understand de-implementation of low-value practices, i.e. “non-evidence-based practice”, and how implementation and de-implementation are connected.
• Papers developing or applying new or less commonly used strategies for improved understanding of how implementation can best be supported.
• Papers developing or applying new or less commonly used measures to best assess the process and outcomes of implementation, including the effectiveness of various strategies.
• Papers employing new or less common research methods to study implementation, e.g. action research, ethnographic, phenomenological, grounded theory, case, and multiple case study designs.
This call is open to papers presented at the 5th UK Implementation Science Research Conference as well as submissions from individuals who did not attend the conference, but are undertaking research relevant to the Research Topic.