Implementation

Knowledge Translation, Dissemination, and Impact.

A Practical Guide for Researchers.

This toolkit contains tools and templates to help you plan how you share and use your research findings. The tools and templates can be used at the different stages of knowledge translation, dissemination, and impact planning by researchers and those who are involved in the planning and sharing of research. The authors advise using the tools and templates, and the HSE guides to knowledge translation, dissemination, and impact, from the start of any research project as they can aid the planning process.

Navigate the complexities of health economics with this glossary which provides a simple overview of key terms.

In 2018 the NHMRC introduced ‘research impact’ as part of the track record component of their Investigator and Synergy grant schemes. Despite three years of inclusion, and this element being worth 20% of the total scoring of applications, there remains significant confusion and inconsistency about how to review, assess and score research impact adequately and fairly. To help peer reviewers assess the impact elements of NHMRC applications, we have compiled a handy how to guide based on our experience and professional knowledge of research impact.

This unofficial guide begins with some basics of terminology and general impact review considerations. It then delves into how to score the sections that align with the three fields on impact within the researcher’s track record part of the application. The sections, referred to as Fields are:

Reach and significance of the research impact (Field 1)
Programs contribution to research impact (Field 2)
Researcher’s contribution to research impact (Field 3)

For implementation science to support the improvement of health care, there are critical methodological challenges that must be addressed. Some of those challenges include:

• How to quickly and efficiently identify determinants of implementing evidence-based interventions
• How to prioritize determinants that are most critical to address to improve health care
• How to choose the right strategy to address critical determinants.

The four methods for implementation impact described on this website are: 

• Causal Pathway Diagrams
• Rapid Ethnographic Assessment
• Prioritising Implementation Barriers
• Rapid Evidence Synthesis

Whether using something new, scaling an established program or practice or supporting an initiative comprised of multiple programs and practices, successful implementation takes intentional planning and time.

Implementation is not an event but a process involving multiple decisions and actions. Change at the site, local, community or state level resulting in improved outcomes does not occur all at once. Although implementation can take longer than we hope or anticipate, its process and trajectory can be predicted and shaped using a stage-based approach.

The Implementation Stages Planning Tool supports identification of the current stage and implementation planning and improvement by providing
• a flow chart to determine the current stage of implementation,
• a list of appropriate stage-based activities, and
• an outline of expected stage-based outcomes.

Many implementation efforts fail, even with highly developed plans for execution, because contextual factors can be powerful forces working against implementation in the real world.

The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) is one of the most commonly used determinant frameworks to assess these contextual factors.

This website provides

• Data collection tools
• Data analysis tools, including Codebook Template, Memo Template, Rating Rules, and Matrix Template

The Facilitators and Barriers: Questions to Guide You chart helps planning teams raise questions around implementation to identify facilitators and barriers in order to develop strategies for overcoming barriers.

The Implementation Plan Template is designed to support the Implementation Team (or other decision makers) to develop and update an implementation plan throughout implementation stages.

This form can help you think about an organisation’s readiness to implement a new program, policy, practice or process.

This tool will guide you through important considerations for implementing programs and practices. Use the prompting questions to explore whether the program or practice you have in mind is a good fit and feasible for your context and circumstances.

This checklist is intended to be used as a progress monitoring and planning tool to assist implementation teams
and other decision makers in keeping the implementation process on track.

This tool is designed to help you determine which stage to start using the implementation guide, that is most appropriate for your initiative.