Section on Advancing the Science of Implementation in Global Settings (ASI)

Section on Advancing the Science of Implementation in Global Setting (ASI)

Many instruments have been developed to improve fit of an evidence-based intervention for the context. However, tools that address implementation outcomes (e.g., feasibility, appropriateness, adoption, sustainability) and scalability have not been readily adapted to low- and middle-income countries. Moreover, as the field continues to evolve, there is an opportunity and need to develop strategies that can assist researchers/policy makers/practitioners to identify the best evidence for implementation in global settings.

The research that ASI undertakes has a core mission of developing tools/instruments/methodology to advance the field of implementation science by either creating and/or adapting available tools/methods in a context specific manner for low resource settings. This includes novel processes to evaluate the quality of evidence to produce the optimal intervention and/or implementation strategies to address our core research priority areas, including maternal health, sickle cell disease, HIV/AIDS, non-communicable diseases such as CVD, and mental health. The core of ASI is evidence generation to guide the development of hybrid implementation studies that assess the clinical effectiveness of evidence-based interventions focused on our core priority research areas. ASI underpins the research of ISEE, and its tools and methods interdigitate IMH, ISCD, and IPWH, as described below.

Our work:

  1. Instrument to evaluate Feasibility of Implementation Outcomes in LMICs 
    • Develop and administer a survey to capture researchers/experts/implementers’ perceptions of contextual factors influencing feasibility of CVD-related EBIs in LMICs.
    • Test psychometric qualities of survey questions to situationally tailor new or existing feasibility assessment tools suited for LMIC settings. 
    • Assess relative weights of contextual factors’ influence on feasibility of EBIs in LMICs.  
  2. Meta-analysis for Assessing Quality of IS outcomes
    • Create new consolidated framework for conducting meta-analysis of implementation science-focused systematic reviews.
    • Test usability of new framework in assessing quality of studies and synthesizing data extracted for implementation science-focused systematic reviews.
  3. Evaluate implementation research outcomes for an evidence-based mental health intervention in LMICs

 

Section Leader: John Pateña, MPH, MA