Research Approaches, Methods & Methodological Challenges in Implementation Science

To benefit patients, we need to systematically implement the knowledge we produce into health care systems and ensure that we involve relevant knowledge users in the process. However, we don’t always implement this knowledge or work collaboratively even though these are what is needed to inform optimized practice and policy decisions. This session will describe the challenges in knowledge translation and implementation science and explore approaches to overcome them.

Monika Kastner is the Research Chair in Knowledge Translation and Implementation at North York General Hospital in Toronto, Ontario; and affiliated with the University of Toronto as an Associate Professor at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (IHPME) and through the Department of Family and Community Medicine (DFCM). Monika’s research interests and goals are to make a positive impact on the health of vulnerable populations with the use of innovative eHealth technologies, and to advance the science and practice of KT and health services research. Monika is the recipient of the CIHR New Investigator Award and the Early Researcher Award from the Ontario Ministry of Research, Innovation and Science in recognition of her work on the KeepWell initiative (funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health and the CIHR), which involves implementing a unique mHealth application that empowers older adults and their providers to optimize multimorbidity management. Monika is also conducting research to advance the science (methods) of KT and implementation. For example, she is leading a Canadian team to develop the knowledge-activated tools (KaT) platform aimed at helping a wide range of knowledge users (providers, patients, researchers, and policy makers) to optimize the development, implementation and dissemination of healthcare innovations with the best potential for impact.

Readings to Consider:

• Boland L, Kothari A, McCutheon C, Graham ID on behalf of the Integrated Knowledge Translation Research Network. Building an integrated knowledge translation (IKT) evidence base: colloquium. Health Research Policy and Systems 2020;18:8.
• Brown CH, Curran G, Palinkas LA, et al. An Overview of Research and Evaluation Designs for Dissemination and Implementation. Annu Rev Public Health 2017;38:1-22.
• Kothari, A., & Wathen, C. N. (2017). Integrated knowledge translation: digging deeper, moving forward. J Epidemiol Community Health, 71(6), 619-623.

• Powel BJ, Fernandez ME, Williams NJ. et al. Enhancing the Impact of Implementation Strategies in Healthcare: A Research Agenda. Frontiers in Public Health 2019

   

  2019-2020 Series Theme: Dissemination & Implementation Science: Explained & Emerging 

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  This year, IHPME’s annual themed Health Services, Systems & Policy Research Seminar Series is entitled Dissemination & Implementation Science: Explained & Emerging. The Series will feature leading scholars in the areas of dissemination and implementation science, who will engage seminar participants in discussions around a variety of topics including: differentiating dissemination and implementation science and situating them within the broader KT domain; what is knowledge and approaches to its generation; the history and evolution of dissemination and implementation science; dominant and promising theory and frameworks for DIS; research approaches, methods and methodological challenges in implementation science; de-implementation and other thorny implementation issues; network perspectives on D&I; sustainability research; and contemporary research on scale up & scale out.