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Who uses implementation science?

Implementation science can be used to close the research to practice gap in any health and human services setting

...Who doesn't use implementation science?

Implementation science can be employed by any discipline focused on improving human health and well-being through the delivery of services and evidence-based practices intended to accomplish this goal.

This includes fields such as medicine, psychology, nursing, public health, social work, and social sciences. Practitioners, researchers, and healthcare managers from these disciplines employ implementation science to ensure that evidence-based practices and interventions are effectively integrated into routine practice and policy. Additionally, implementation science is relevant in areas like business, public policy, and engineering, where the goal is to enhance the adoption and sustainability of innovative practices. By systematically addressing barriers to the uptake of proven interventions, implementation science helps bridge the gap between research and practice, ultimately aiming to improve outcomes on a population level.

The focal areas listed in the tabs of the accordion below include a broad array of fields and disciplines that use and produce implementation science at the University of Washington. Under each tab you will find a selection of both open-access and subscription-required articles highlighting the relevance, state, or use of implementation science in that discipline.

Be sure to explore what fields other than your own are doing - as our colleague at Washington University (St. Louis) Dr. Beth Prusaczyk reminds us, under the Dissemination & Implementation science big tent, everyone benefits.

The implementation science big tent is health condition agnostic. Including research from fields or health conditions outside one's own focus can help reduce the gap between research-based implementation science and its application to real-world change.

Graphic of a red and white striped big top circus tent with a sign over the door that reads "Implementation Science" and a picket sign stuck in the grass in front of the tent that reads "Welcome all."

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.

Accessible Accordion