A refined compilation of implementation strategies: results from the Expert Recommendations for Implementing Change (ERIC) project

By Byron J. Powell, T. Waltz, M. Chinman, Laura J. Damschroder, Jeffrey L. Smith, M. Matthieu, Enola K. Proctor, J. Kirchner. Implementation Science, 2015

3,826 citations recorded by the source corpus.

BackgroundIdentifying, developing, and testing implementation strategies are important goals of implementation science. However, these efforts have been complicated by the use of inconsistent language and inadequate descriptions of implementation strategies in the literature. The Expert Recommendations for Implementing Change (ERIC) study aimed to refine a published compilation of implementation strategy terms and definitions by systematically gathering input from a wide range of stakeholders with expertise in implementation science and clinical practice.MethodsPurposive sampling was used to recruit a panel of experts in implementation and clinical practice who engaged in three rounds of a modified Delphi process to generate consensus on implementation strategies and definitions. The first and second rounds involved Web-based surveys soliciting comments on implementation strategy terms and definitions. After each round, iterative refinements were made based upon participant feedback. The third round involved a live polling and consensus process via a Web-based platform and conference call.ResultsParticipants identified substantial concerns with 31% of the terms and/or definitions and suggested five additional strategies. Seventy-five percent of definitions from the originally published compilation of strategies were retained after voting. Ultimately, the expert panel reached consensus on a final compilation of 73 implementation strategies.ConclusionsThis research advances the field by improving the conceptual clarity, relevance, and comprehensiveness of implementation strategies that can be used in isolation or combination in implementation research and practice. Future phases of ERIC will focus on developing conceptually distinct categories of strategies as well as ratings for each strategy’s importance and feasibility. Next, the expert panel will recommend multifaceted strategies for hypothetical yet real-world scenarios that vary by sites’ endorsement of evidence-based programs and practices and the strength of contextual supports that surround the effort.

Subfields: General Health Professions, Sociology and Political Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/9cfea305517c517405def81a196e95952839d066

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Citations in the corpus

The Implementation Research Logic Model: a method for planning, executing, reporting, and synthesizing implementation projects (2020, methodology): “Implementation strategies are supports, changes to, and interventions on the system to increase adoption of EBIs into usual care [32].”
The updated Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research based on user feedback (2022, methodology): “Distinguish the innovation (the “thing” that continues when implementation is complete) [20, 25] from the implementation process and strategies used to implement the innovation [26, 27] (activities that end after implementation is complete) [28].”
Lipoprotein(a) in atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and aortic stenosis: a European Atherosclerosis Society consensus statement (2022, background): “Increasing general awareness and training a wide spectrum of healthcare and laboratory practitioners regarding the importance of managing elevated Lp(a) are essential (Table 3 and Supplementary material online, Figure S6).(208) Table 3 Suggested recommendations for implementing better care of elevat”
Use of concept mapping to characterize relationships among implementation strategies and assess their feasibility and importance: results from the Expert Recommendations for Implementing Change (ERIC) study (2015, methodology): “Method A purposive sampling procedure was used to recruit an expert panel of implementation science and clinical experts (N = 35) to participate in concept mapping and rating tasks [9, 10].”
Psychometric assessment of three newly developed implementation outcome measures (2017, background): “These outcomes are relevant to assessing stakeholders’ perceptions of clinical and public health interventions, as well as assessing perceptions of implementation strategies, which are often complex interventions in and of themselves [1, 32, 33].”
Enhancing the Impact of Implementation Strategies in Healthcare: A Research Agenda (2019, background): “(4) recommend that researchers name and define strategies in ways that are consistent with the published literature, and carefully operationalize the strategy by specifying: (1) actor(s), (2) action(s), (3) action target(s), (4) temporality, (5) dose, (6) implementation outcomes affected, and (7) th”
From Classification to Causality: Advancing Understanding of Mechanisms of Change in Implementation Science (2018, methodology): “org May 2018 | Volume 6 | Article 136 developed by a multidisciplinary team through a structured literature review (20), Delphi process, and concept mapping exercise (19, 21, 22).”
Implementation Mapping: Using Intervention Mapping to Develop Implementation Strategies (2019, methodology): “These strategies vary in their complexity, from discrete or single component strategies to multi-component or bundled approaches (2, 7).”