PM10
INTRODUCTION TO IMPLEMENTATION SCIENCE
Sunday, October 18, 2015: 2:00 PM - 5:30 PM
Mills Studio 2 (Hyatt Regency St. Louis at the Arch)
Course Type: Half Day
Course Level: Beginner
Background: This introductory course will provide an overview of the emerging field of implementation science. Attendees will learn the major components of implementation research, and will have a chance to apply them in class and small group discussions. This course will equip attendees to begin posing relevant implementation research questions, and will give them the resources to begin designing and conducting rigorous implementation studies. Given that “implementation” is the theme of this year’s SMDM conference, this course will benefit attendees by allowing them to become more informed consumers of the implementation research presented throughout the conference.
Format Requirements: The course will include a combination of didactic lectures, discussions, and small group exercises. Attendees should expect to actively engage in discussions about how the course topics apply to their clinical areas of interest. There are no prerequisites for the course.
Description and Objectives: This course will provide an overview of the emerging field of implementation science, which is the study of methods to promote the uptake of evidence-based practices and other research evidence in routine care settings in order to improve the quality and effectiveness of health care. Participants will be introduced to the types of research questions, theories, methods, designs, and ethical principles that guide the field. Case examples will focus on applications of implementation science in health and behavioral health, and the course will also draw upon the implementation challenges and opportunities faced by the course attendees. By the end of this course, participants will:
1) Understand the rationale for implementation science as a response to the “quality chasm” in health care, and be well-acquainted with the basic terminology of implementation science
2) Gain an understanding of the types of theories and conceptual frameworks that can inform implementation science
3) Learn about various barriers to the delivery of evidence-based care
4) Be knowledgeable about the range of implementation strategies available, the evidence-base that guides their use, and how they can be selected and tailored to overcome implementation barriers
5) Understand the conceptualization and measurement of implementation outcomes and how they differ from clinical and service system outcomes
6) Learn about the types of methods and designs that can be useful for implementation studies
7) Understand ethical considerations specific to implementation science
8) Be familiar with research priorities pertinent to implementation science as identified by federal and private funding agencies as well as leaders in the field
9) Obtain numerous resources for further reading as well as a list of opportunities for self-study and formal training in implementation science
Course Director:
Enola Proctor, PhD
Washington University in St. Louis
Shanti K. Khinduka Distinguished Professor
Enola Proctor is the Shanti K. Khinduka Distinguished Professor at Brown School, Washington University in St. Louis. Her teaching and research are motivated by the question, how do we ensure that people receive the very best possible care? She studies the processes through which organizations and individual providers can adopt and deliver the most effective programs and interventions. Her research and training programs have been funded continuously by the National Institute of Mental Health since 1993. Currently she works on a five-year R01 study to conduct a multi-site randomized trial to test the ARC organizational implementation strategy in St. Louis community mental health clinics. Proctor leads several national initiatives to advance the science of dissemination and implementation research, including the NIMH funded Implementation Research Institute (IRI) which trains researchers from across the nation in implementation science for mental health. She also directs the Center for Dissemination and Implementation for the Institute for Public Health, and the Dissemination and Implementation Research Core (DIRC) of Washington University’s Institute for Clinical and Translational Science.
Proctor was a member of the National Advisory Council for the NIMH (2006-2010), and currently serves on an Institute of Medicine Committee on Developing Evidence-Based Standards for Psychosocial interventions for Mental Disorders. She has published several books, most recently Dissemination and Implementation Research in Health: Translating Science to Practice, with colleagues Ross Brownson and Graham Colditz (2012). In 2010, she was elected to the inaugural class of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare and its Board of Directors (2010-11).
Course Faculty:
Byron Powell, PhD
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Assistant Professor
Byron Powell is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. His research focuses on efforts to improve the quality of mental health and social services that are provided in community settings. Specifically, he is working to develop a better understanding of the types of strategies that can be used to implement effective services, and the organizational and systemic factors that can facilitate or impede implementation and quality improvement.
Prior to coming to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Byron received a BA in psychology from Taylor University, an AM in clinical social work from the University of Chicago, and a PhD in social work from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Mental Health Policy and Services Research. At Washington University in St. Louis, he received National Institutes of Health-funded training through fellowships in mental health services research (NIMH T32MH19960) and clinical research (NCRR TL1RR024995). Byron’s dissertation was a mixed methods multiple case study of six children’s mental health organizations that afforded the opportunity to learn from organizational leaders and providers and to evaluate the extent to which “implementation as usual” reflected emerging best practices specified in the literature. The study received funding from National Institute of Mental Health (F31MH098478), the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (Fellowship for the Advancement of Child Well-Being), and the Fahs-Beck Fund for Research and Experimentation.
