TY - JOUR
T1 - Implementation research
T2 - new imperatives and opportunities in global health
AU - Theobald, Sally
AU - Brandes, Neal
AU - Gyapong, Margaret
AU - El-Saharty, Sameh
AU - Proctor, Enola
AU - Diaz, Theresa
AU - Wanji, Samuel
AU - Elloker, Soraya
AU - Raven, Joanna
AU - Elsey, Helen
AU - Bharal, Sushil
AU - Pelletier, David
AU - Peters, David H.
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding was obtained from the Funding Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research, the World Bank, and USAID, through the Health Research Challenge for Impact Project with a Leader with Associates Cooperative Agreement (GHS-A-00-09-00004-00) to John Hopkins University, and the Translating Research into Action project funded under cooperative agreement (GHS-A-00-09-00015-00) with University Research Corporation. We thank Mark Taylor, Irene Agyepong, Lucy Gilson, Daniela Rodriguez, Laura Reichenbach, and Supriya Madhavan for their review and input, and Susie Crossman and Faye Moody for their support with references.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2018/11/17
Y1 - 2018/11/17
N2 - Implementation research is important in global health because it addresses the challenges of the know–do gap in real-world settings and the practicalities of achieving national and global health goals. Implementation research is an integrated concept that links research and practice to accelerate the development and delivery of public health approaches. Implementation research involves the creation and application of knowledge to improve the implementation of health policies, programmes, and practices. This type of research uses multiple disciplines and methods and emphasises partnerships between community members, implementers, researchers, and policy makers. Implementation research focuses on practical approaches to improve implementation and to enhance equity, efficiency, scale-up, and sustainability, and ultimately to improve people's health. There is growing interest in the principles of implementation research and a range of perspectives on its purposes and appropriate methods. However, limited efforts have been made to systematically document and review learning from the practice of implementation research across different countries and technical areas. Drawing on an expert review process, this Health Policy paper presents purposively selected case studies to illustrate the essential characteristics of implementation research and its application in low-income and middle-income countries. The case studies are organised into four categories related to the purposes of using implementation research, including improving people's health, informing policy design and implementation, strengthening health service delivery, and empowering communities and beneficiaries. Each of the case studies addresses implementation problems, involves partnerships to co-create solutions, uses tacit knowledge and research, and is based on a shared commitment towards improving health outcomes. The case studies reveal the complex adaptive nature of health systems, emphasise the importance of understanding context, and highlight the role of multidisciplinary, rigorous, and adaptive processes that allow for course correction to ensure interventions have an impact. This Health Policy paper is part of a call to action to increase the use of implementation research in global health, build the field of implementation research inclusive of research utilisation efforts, and accelerate efforts to bridge the gap between research, policy, and practice to improve health outcomes.
AB - Implementation research is important in global health because it addresses the challenges of the know–do gap in real-world settings and the practicalities of achieving national and global health goals. Implementation research is an integrated concept that links research and practice to accelerate the development and delivery of public health approaches. Implementation research involves the creation and application of knowledge to improve the implementation of health policies, programmes, and practices. This type of research uses multiple disciplines and methods and emphasises partnerships between community members, implementers, researchers, and policy makers. Implementation research focuses on practical approaches to improve implementation and to enhance equity, efficiency, scale-up, and sustainability, and ultimately to improve people's health. There is growing interest in the principles of implementation research and a range of perspectives on its purposes and appropriate methods. However, limited efforts have been made to systematically document and review learning from the practice of implementation research across different countries and technical areas. Drawing on an expert review process, this Health Policy paper presents purposively selected case studies to illustrate the essential characteristics of implementation research and its application in low-income and middle-income countries. The case studies are organised into four categories related to the purposes of using implementation research, including improving people's health, informing policy design and implementation, strengthening health service delivery, and empowering communities and beneficiaries. Each of the case studies addresses implementation problems, involves partnerships to co-create solutions, uses tacit knowledge and research, and is based on a shared commitment towards improving health outcomes. The case studies reveal the complex adaptive nature of health systems, emphasise the importance of understanding context, and highlight the role of multidisciplinary, rigorous, and adaptive processes that allow for course correction to ensure interventions have an impact. This Health Policy paper is part of a call to action to increase the use of implementation research in global health, build the field of implementation research inclusive of research utilisation efforts, and accelerate efforts to bridge the gap between research, policy, and practice to improve health outcomes.
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U2 - 10.1016/S0140-6736(18)32205-0
DO - 10.1016/S0140-6736(18)32205-0
M3 - Comment/debate
C2 - 30314860
AN - SCOPUS:85056551285
SN - 0140-6736
VL - 392
SP - 2214
EP - 2228
JO - The Lancet
JF - The Lancet
IS - 10160
ER -