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Equitable implementation science

Equity must drive how we get “what works” to the people who need it, with greater speed, fidelity, efficiency, quality, and relevant coverage.

Working Towards Health Equity

In the field of implementation science and implementation research, health equity refers to the principle and goal of ensuring that all individuals have fair and just access to healthcare services and interventions, regardless of their socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, gender, or other social determinants.

Health equity involves identifying and addressing disparities in health outcomes and healthcare access that are often rooted in systemic inequalities and social injustices. It aims to eliminate these disparities by tailoring interventions and implementation strategies to meet the specific needs of marginalized and underserved populations, ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to achieve optimal health. This requires a deliberate focus on integrating equity considerations into all stages of the implementation process, from the design and selection of interventions to their implementation and evaluation, to ensure that the benefits of healthcare innovations are equitably distributed and sustained over time.

Below, find resources on health equity in implementation science, anti-racist research & studying impacts of racism, decolonizing global health, and cultural adaptation.

Open Access articles are marked with the ✪ symbol and free online resources are marked with the 💻 symbol. Some articles will require a journal subscription to access the full text.

Journal Articles & Blog Posts

✪ Equity in Implementation Science Is Long Overdue (Stanford Social Innovation Review, 2021)

✪ Advancing health equity through a theoretically critical implementation science (Translational Behavioral Medicine, 2021)

✪ Grounding implementation science in health equity for cancer prevention and control (Implementation Science Communications, 2022)

✪ Situating implementation science (IS) in res(IS)tance: a conceptual frame toward the integration of scholarship from the black radical tradition (Frontiers in Public Health, 2024)

✪ Using Participatory Implementation Science to Advance Health Equity (Annual Review of Public Health, 2024)

✪ Five Recommendations for How Implementation Science Can Better Advance Equity (AcademyHealth, 2019)

✪ Implementation science should give higher priority to health equity (Implementation Science, 2021)

✪ A scoping review of equity-focused implementation theories, models and frameworks in healthcare and their application in addressing ethnicity-related health inequities (Implementation Science, 2023)

✪ Cost—A Hidden Aspect of Equity-Grounded Implementation Science (JAMA Forum, 2024)

✪ Equitable Implementation at Work (Stanford Social Innovation Review, 2021)

✪ Applying an equity lens to assess context and implementation in public health and health services research and practice using the PRISM framework (Frontiers in Health Services, 2023)

✪ Global, Regional, National, and Subnational Big Data to Inform Health Equity Research: Perspectives from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017 (Ethnicity & Disease, 2019)

✪ Perspective: Social Determinants of Health and Implementation Research: Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic (Ethnicity & Disease, 2021)

✪ Are we being equitable enough? Lessons learned from sites lost in an implementation trial (Implementation Research and Practice, 2024)

✪ Advancing healthcare equity through dissemination and implementation science (Health Services Research, 2023)

✪ Enhancing Impact: A Call to Action for Equitable Implementation Science (Prevention Science, 2023)

✪ Application of an antiracism lens in the field of implementation science (IS): Recommendations for reframing implementation research with a focus on justice and racial equity (Implementation Research and Practice, 2021)

✪ Recommendations for Addressing Structural Racism in Implementation Science: A Call to the Field (Ethnicity & Disease, 2021)

✪ Recommendations for Using Causal Diagrams to Study Racial Health Disparities (American Journal of Epidemiology, 2022)

✪ Applying a Race(ism)-Conscious Adaptation of the CFIR Framework to Understand Implementation of a School-Based Equity-Oriented Intervention (Ethnicity & Disease, 2021)

✪ Rationale for the Design and Implementation of Interventions Addressing Institutional Racism at a Local Public Health Department (Ethnicity & Disease, 2021)

✪ Antiracism and Health Equity Science: Overcoming Scientific Obstacles to Health Equity (Public Health Reports, 2024)

✪ Extending an Antiracism Lens to the Implementation of Precision Public Health Interventions (American Journal of Public Health (AJPH), 2023)

✪ Extending critical race, racialization, and racism literatures to the adoption, implementation, and sustainability of data equity policies and data (dis)aggregation practices in health research (Health Services Research, 2023)

✪ Diversifying Implementation Science: A Global Perspective (Global Health: Science and Practice, 2022)

✪ A proposed guide to reducing bias and improving assessments of decolonization in global health research (Frontiers in Education, 2024)

✪ Challenges and Opportunities for Paving the Road to Global Health Equity Through Implementation Science (Annual Review of Public Health, 2024)

✪ Decolonizing Global Health: A Moment To Reflect On A Movement (Forbes, 2021)

✪ Report: Time to Decolonise Aid (Adesco, Alliance for Peacebuilding, Peace Direct, WCAPS, Women of Color Advancing Peace, Security and Conflict Transformation, 2021)

✪ A two-way street: bridging implementation science and cultural adaptations of mental health treatments (Implementation Science, 2013)

✪ The Cultural Adaptation Checklist (CAC): quality indicators for cultural adaptation of intervention and practice (International Journal of Developmental Disabilities, 2023)

✪ Model of engaging communities collaboratively: Working towards an integration of implementation science, cultural adaptation and engagement (International Journal of Critical Indigenous Studies, 2020)

✪ Barriers, frameworks, and mitigating strategies influencing the dissemination and implementation of health promotion interventions in indigenous communities: a scoping review (Implementation Science, 2022)

✪ Cultural adaptations and cultural factors in EBI implementation with Latinx communities (Frontiers in Public Health, 2023)

✪ Advances in the adaptation and implementation of evidence-based interventions for historically marginalized groups (Behaviour Research and Therapy, 2023)

Collections, Training, & Websites

💻 The Campbell and Cochrane Equity Methods Group (Cochrane and Campbell Collaboration)

💻 Cochrane Methods – Health Equity: Training & Webinars (Cochrane and Campbell Collaboration)

💻 CDC Health Equity Research Guide (United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

💻 CMS Framework for Health Equity (United States Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services)

💻 Conducting research through an anti-racism lens (University of Minnesota)

💻 Race and Equity Initiative: Anti-racism resources (University of Washington)

💻 Resources on Racism and Health (HealthAffairs)

Videos & Podcasts