2017 Metopen Sesi 2 YM Riset Implementasi

Introduction to Implementation research
Yodi Mahendradhata

Key questions
• What do we mean by implementation research?
• Why do we need implementation research?
• How to formulate implementation research objectives and questions?
• What constructs/variables are relevant for implementation research?
• What are common methods for implementation research?
• What are the key references for implementation research?

What do e
Health system research?

ea

y …….

Implementation research?
Health policy research?


Operational research?
Health services research?

I ple e tatio resear h is that subset
of HSR that focuses on how to promote
the uptake and successful
implementation of evidence-based
interventions and policies….
(Sanders & Haines 2006)

…..usefully defi ed as s ie tifi inquiry
into questions concerning
implementation - the act of fulfilling or
carrying out an i te tio
(Peters et al 2013)

The ultiple defi itio s of operatio al
research, implementation research, and
health systems research creates confusion
and negatively affects the credibility

and progress of the resear h…
(Remme et al 2010)

Defining research to improve health systems
(Remme et al 2010)
Research Domain Primary characteristics

Focus

Users

Utility

Operational

Operational issues of specific
health programmes

Health care providers,
programme managers


Local

Implementation

Implementation strategies for
specific products or services

Programme managers, R&D
managers

Local/Broad

Health system

Issues affecting some or all of
the building blocks of a health
system

Health system managers,

policy makers

Broad

Defining research to improve health systems
(Remme et al 2010)

Examples of research questions for the three
research domains (Remme et al 2010)
Domain

Question

Operational

Which locations should be targeted for delivering HIV prevention services in Kawempe district,
Uganda?

Which of the current ART payment strategies in use in Nairobi should be retained for the new
integrated programme?

Implementation

How to improve access to vaccination among children who are currently not reached by
immunisation services?

How to deliver ivermectin for onchocerciasis control and ensure sustained high treatment
coverage in isolated rural communities?
Health system

How effective are different policies for attracting nurses to rural areas?
What has been the impact of the rapid scale-up of HIV programmes on fragile health systems?

Common interpretations of IR*
• Systematic approach to understanding and addressing barriers to
effective and quality implementation of health interventions,
strategies and policies.

• IR is demand-driven and the research questions are framed based on
needs identified together with relevant stakeholders/implementers in
the health system


*WHO (2014)

I ple e tatio resear h…*
• addresses implementation bottlenecks,
• identifies optimal approaches for a particular setting,
• promotes the uptake of research findings
• leads to improved health care and its delivery.

*WHO (2014)

Characteristics of Implementation Research*

*WHO (2014)

Systematic

Multidisciplinary

Contextual


Complex

Characteristics of Implementation Research (WHO 2013)
Systematic




The systematic study of how evidence-based public health interventions are integrated and
provided in specific settings, and how resulting health outcomes vary across communities.
Balances relevance to real life situations with rigor, strictly adhering to norms of scientific inquiry.

Multidisciplinary

• Analysis of biological, social, economic, political, system and environmental factors that impact
implementation of specific health interventions.
• Interdisciplinary collaborations between behavioural and social scientists, clinicians,
epidemiologists, statisticians, engineers, business analysts, policy makers, and key stakeholders.


Contextual

• Demand driven. Framing of research questions is based on needs identified by implementers in
the health system.
• Research is relevant to local specifics and needs, and aims to improve health care delivery in a
given context.
• Generates generalizable knowledge and insights that can be applied across various settings.
• Mindful of cultural and community-based influences.

Complex






Dynamic and adaptive.
Multi-scale: occurs at multiple levels of health systems and communities.
Analyses multi-component programmes and policies.
Non-linear, iterative, evolving process.


Why do we need implementation research?

E e he i ter e tio s are desig ed
in similar ways, implementation occurs
differently in different contexts, and
ith a y differe t effe ts.….
(WHO 2014)

The importance of implementation (WHO 2014)
Efficacious tool

Accessibility
Provider
compliance
Patient
adherence

Effectiveness


The Prevention of Mother-To-Child-Transmission
(PMTCT) cascade in Zambia (2007-2008)*

*Ref: Mandala et al., 2009

There is growing funding for intervention
research, particularly for drugs,
a i es….. Ho e er, there is still little
funding for, and, therefore, a relative
dearth of implementation resear h….
(Sanders & Haines 2006)

“o iety’s huge i est e t in technological
innovations that only modestly improve efficacy,
by consuming resources needed for improved
delivery of care, may cost more lives than it saves.
……Health, economic, and moral arguments make
the case for spending less on technological
advances and more on improving systems for
delivering care.

(Woolf & Johnson 2005)

Neglecting implementation
challenges costs lives and
money….
(WHO 2014)

Implementation research objectives and questions?

Implementation research objectives and questions*
Research objective

Illustration of research question

Explore

What are the possible factors and agents responsible for good
implementation of a health intervention? For enhancing or expanding a
health intervention

Describe

What describes the context in which implementation occurs? What describes
the main factors influencing implementation in a given context?

Influence

Is coverage of a health intervention changing among beneficiaries of the
intervention?

Explain

How and why does implementation of the intervention lead to effects on
health behaviour, services, or status in all its variations?

Predict

What is the likely course of future implementation?

*Peters et al 2013

IR Traditions, Research Questions, and Initial
Core Disciplines (Peters et al 2013)
Implementation Research
Tradition

Typical research questions

Core disciplines at
origin

Dissemination and
implementation of evidencebased Medicine

What promotes the integration of research findings and
evidence on interventions into healthcare policy and practice?

Epidemiology,
behavior change
(psychology,
sociology, education)

Participatory action
research

How can we (community members as research participants)
learn and be empowered to take action?

Social psychology,
education, and
anthropology

Management improvement

How are the right services delivered to the right clients while
meeting the right standards for quality?

Management,
engineering

Operational research

Which solution provides the most rational basis for a decision
concerning the optimal performance of a system?

Management,
engineering, math

Policy implementation

• How was a policy implemented, and what contributed to
reaching the objectives or other effects?
• Which actors are involved in programme delivery in specific
locations, how do they understand the problem of
implementation, and what influences their behaviour?

Political science,
public policy, public
administration

Constructs/variables for implementation research?

(proliferating) theoretical frameworks for IR?
• Tabak, R. G., Khoong, E. C., Chambers, D. A., & Brownson, R. C. (2012). Bridging research and practice:
models for dissemination and implementation research. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 43(3),
337-350. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2012.05.024
• Flottorp, S. A., Oxman, A. D., Krause, J., Musila, N. R., Wensing, M., Godycki-Cwirko, M., . . . Eccles, M. P.
(2013). A checklist for identifying determinants of practice: A systematic review and synthesis of frameworks
and taxonomies of factors that prevent or enable improvements in healthcare professional practice.
Implement Sci, 8, 35. doi: 10.1186/1748-5908-8-35
• Meyers, D. C., Durlak, J. A., & Wandersman, A. (2012). The quality implementation framework: a synthesis of
critical steps in the implementation process. American Journal of Community Psychology, 50(3-4), 462- 480.
doi: 10.1007/s10464-012-9522-x
• Cane, J., O'Connor, D., & Michie, S. (2012). Validation of the theoretical domains framework for use in
behaviour change and implementation research. Implement Sci, 7(1), 37. doi: 10.1186/1748-5908-7-37
• Hendriks, A.-M., Jansen, M., Gubbels, J., De Vries, N., Paulussen, T., & Kremers, S. (2013). Proposing a
conceptual framework for integrated local public health policy, applied to childhood obesity - the behavior
change ball. Implementation Science, 8(1), 46.
• Chaudoir S.R., et al. Measuring factors affecting implementation of health innovations: A systematic review
of structural, organizational, provider, patient, and innovation level measures. Implementation Science 2013;
8:22
• A d ore…..

Consolidated Framework for
Implementation Research (CFIR)*
Inner setting

Outer setting

Intervention
Individual
*Source: http://cfirguide.org/constructs.html

Process

Consolidated Framework for
Implementation Research (CFIR)*
Intervention

Outer setting

Inner setting

Individuals

Intervention source

Patient needs &
resources

Structural
characteristics

Knowledge & beliefs Planning

Evidence strength &
quality

Cosmopolitanism

Networks &
communications

Self-efficacy

Engaging

Relative advantage

Peer pressure

Culture

Individual stage of
change

Executing

Adaptability

External policy &
incentive

Implementation
climate

Identification with
organization

Reflecting &
evaluating

Readiness for
implementation

Other personal
attributes

Trialability
Complexity
Design quality &
packaging
Cost
*Source: http://cfirguide.org/constructs.html

Process

Implementation outcome variables
(Peters et al 2013; WHO 2014)
Variables

Working definition

Acceptability

The perception among stakeholders (for example, consumers, providers, managers, policy
makers) that an intervention is agreeable

Adoption

The intention, initial decision, or action to try to employ a new intervention

Appropriateness

The perceived fit or relevance of the intervention in a particular setting or for a particular
target audience (for example, provider or consumer) or problem

Feasibility

The extent to which an intervention can be carried out in a particular setting or
organization

Fidelity

The degree to which an intervention was implemented as it was designed in an original
protocol, plan, or policy

Implementation
cost

The incremental cost of the implementation strategy (for example, how the services are
delivered in a particular setting). The total cost of implementation would also include the
cost of the intervention itself

Coverage

The degree to which the population that is eligible to benefit from an intervention actually
receives it.

Sustainability

The extent to which an intervention is maintained or institutionalized in a given setting

Common methods for Implementation research?

Methods particularly suitable for IR
(Peters et al 2013)

Mixed methods

Participatory
action research

Effectivenessimplementation
hybrid trials

Quality
improvement
studies

Pragmatic trials

Differentiating Implementation research?

Spectrum of implementation research relevance
(Peters et al 2013)
Implementation
not relevant

Implementation
relevant but not
considered

Implementation Implementation Implementation
relevant but
studied as
as primary focus
effects reduced contributing
factors

Context

Controlled

Largely controlled Real world &
partial control

Real world &
population

Real world &
population

IR Variables

Not relevant

Assumed to be
controlled or not
relevant

Controlled

Independent
variables

Primary
outcome/
determinants

Examples

Basic science,
Phase I and II
clinical trials

Efficacy study,
Phase III RCT

Pragmatic trials,
Quasi
experimental
study with
comparison

Participatory
research,
Observational
studies
assessing
implementation

Mixed method
to determine
acceptability

Key questions to assess research designs or
reports on implementation research (Peters et al 2013)
• Does the research clearly aim to answer a question concerning implementation?
• Does the research clearly identify the primary audiences for the research and how they
would use the research?
• Is there a clear description of what is being implemented (for example, details of the
practice, programme, or policy)?
• Does the research involve an implementation strategy? If so, is it described and
examined in its fullness?
• Is the research co ducted i a real world setti g? If so, is the co text a d sa ple
population described in sufficient detail?
• Does the research appropriately consider implementation outcome variables?
• Does the research appropriately consider context and other factors that influence
implementation?
• Does the research appropriately consider changes over time and the level of complexity
of the system, including unintended consequences?

Key references?

Discussion time!

On-going developments
• Postgraduate scholarships for Implementation research
• Implementation research workshops
• Implementation research Massive Open Online Course
• Ethics in implementation research
• Reporting guidelines for implementation research
• Implementation research grants
• Updating of implementation research toolkit
• National strategy for implementation research

Yodi_Mahendradhata@yahoo.co.uk