Section on Methodologies for Advancing Implementation Research (MAIR)

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