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✪ An updated protocol for a systematic review of implementation-related measures

Authors:

Cara C. Lewis, Kayne D. Mettert, Caitlin N. Dorsey, Ruben G. Martinez, Bryan J. Weiner, Elspeth Nolen, Cameo Stanick, Heather Halko and Byron J. Powell

University of Washington affiliated authors are displayed in bold.

✪ Open Access

Published: April 2018

Read the full text in the open access journal Systematic Reviews

Abstract:

Background

Implementation science is the study of strategies used to integrate evidence-based practices into real-world settings (Eccles and Mittman, Implement Sci. 1(1):1, 2006). Central to the identification of replicable, feasible, and effective implementation strategies is the ability to assess the impact of contextual constructs and intervention characteristics that may influence implementation, but several measurement issues make this work quite difficult. For instance, it is unclear which constructs have no measures and which measures have any evidence of psychometric properties like reliability and validity. As part of a larger set of studies to advance implementation science measurement (Lewis et al., Implement Sci. 10:102, 2015), we will complete systematic reviews of measures that map onto the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (Damschroder et al., Implement Sci. 4:50, 2009) and the Implementation Outcomes Framework (Proctor et al., Adm Policy Ment Health. 38(2):65-76, 2011), the protocol for which is described in this manuscript.

Methods

Our primary databases will be PubMed and Embase. Our search strings will be comprised of five levels: (1) the outcome or construct term; (2) terms for measure; (3) terms for evidence-based practice; (4) terms for implementation; and (5) terms for mental health. Two trained research specialists will independently review all titles and abstracts followed by full-text review for inclusion. The research specialists will then conduct measure-forward searches using the “cited by” function to identify all published empirical studies using each measure. The measure and associated publications will be compiled in a packet for data extraction. Data relevant to our Psychometric and Pragmatic Evidence Rating Scale (PAPERS) will be independently extracted and then rated using a worst score counts methodology reflecting “poor” to “excellent” evidence.

Discussion

We will build a centralized, accessible, searchable repository through which researchers, practitioners, and other stakeholders can identify psychometrically and pragmatically strong measures of implementation contexts, processes, and outcomes. By facilitating the employment of psychometrically and pragmatically strong measures identified through this systematic review, the repository would enhance the cumulativeness, reproducibility, and applicability of research findings in the rapidly growing field of implementation science.

**This abstract is posted with permission under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License**

✪ Readiness to Change Over Time: Change Commitment and Change Efficacy in a Workplace Health-Promotion Trial

Authors:

Christian D. Helfrich, Marlana J. Kohn, Austin Stapleton, Claire L. Allen, Kristen Elizabeth Hammerback, K. C. Gary Chan, Amanda T. Parrish, Daron E. Ryan, Bryan J. Weiner, Jeffrey R. Harris, & Peggy A. Hannon

University of Washington affiliated authors are displayed in bold.

✪ Open Access

Published: April 2018

Read the full text in the open access journal Frontiers in Public Health

Abstract:

Introduction

Organizational readiness to change may be a key determinant of implementation success and a mediator of the effectiveness of implementation interventions. If organizational readiness can be reliably and validly assessed at the outset of a change initiative, it could be used to assess the effectiveness of implementation-support activities by measuring changes in readiness factors over time.

Methods

We analyzed two waves of readiness-to-change survey data collected as part of a three-arm, randomized controlled trial to implement evidence-based health promotion practices in small worksites in low-wage industries. We measured five readiness factors: context (favorable broader conditions); change valence (valuing health promotion); information assessment (demands and resources to implement health promotion); change commitment (an intention to implement health promotion); and change efficacy (a belief in shared ability to implement health promotion). We expected commitment and efficacy to increase at intervention sites along with their self-reported effort to implement health promotion practices, termed wellness-program effort. We compared means between baseline and 15 months, and between intervention and control sites. We used linear regression to test whether intervention and control sites differed in their change-readiness scores over time.

Results

Only context and change commitment met reliability thresholds. Change commitment declined significantly for both control (−0.39) and interventions sites (−0.29) from baseline to 15 months, while context did not change for either. Only wellness program effort at 15 months, but not at baseline, differed significantly between control and intervention sites (1.20 controls, 2.02 intervention). Regression analyses resulted in two significant differences between intervention and control sites in changes from baseline to 15 months: (1) intervention sites exhibited significantly smaller change in context scores relative to control sites over time and (2) intervention sites exhibited significantly higher changes in wellness program effort relative to control sites.

Discussion

Contrary to our hypothesis, change commitment declined significantly at both Healthlinks and control sites, even as wellness-program effort increased significantly at HealthLinks sites. Regression to the mean may explain the decline in change commitment. Future research needs to assess whether baseline commitment is an independent predictor of wellness-program effort or an effect modifier of the HealthLinks intervention.

**This abstract is posted with permission under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License**

✪ Successful Deployment of High Flow Nasal Cannula in a Peruvian Pediatric Intensive Care Unit Using Implementation Science—Lessons Learned

Authors:

Katie R. Nielsen, Rosario Becerra, Gabriela Mallma, & José Tantaleán da Fieno

University of Washington affiliated authors are displayed in bold.

✪ Open Access

Published: April 2018

Read the full text in the open access journal Frontiers in Pediatrics

Abstract:

Acute lower respiratory infections are the leading cause of death outside the neonatal period for children less than 5 years of age. Widespread availability of invasive and non-invasive mechanical ventilation in resource-rich settings has reduced mortality rates; however, these technologies are not always available in many low- and middle-income countries due to the high cost and trained personnel required to implement and sustain their use. High flow nasal cannula (HFNC) is a form of non-invasive respiratory support with growing evidence for use in pediatric respiratory failure. Its simple interface makes utilization in resource-limited settings appealing, although widespread implementation in these settings lags behind resource-rich settings. Implementation science is an emerging field dedicated to closing the know-do gap by incorporating evidence-based interventions into routine care, and its principles have guided the scaling up of many global health interventions. In 2016, we introduced HFNC use for respiratory failure in a pediatric intensive care unit in Lima, Peru using implementation science methodology. Here, we review our experience in the context of the principles of implementation science to serve as a guide for others considering HFNC implementation in resource-limited settings.

**This abstract is posted with permission under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License**

Implementing systems-based innovations to improve access to early screening, diagnosis, and treatment services for children with autism spectrum disorder: An Autism Spectrum Disorder Pediatric, Early Detection, Engagement, and Services network study

Authors:

Sarabeth Broder Fingert, Alice Carter, Karen Pierce, Wendy L Stone, Amy Wetherby, Chris Scheldrick, Christopher Smith, Elizabeth Bacon, Stephen N James, Lisa Ibañez, Emily Feinberg

University of Washington affiliated authors are displayed in bold.

Subscription Required for Full Text Access

Published: April 2018

Read the full text in the subscription access journal Austism

✪ An integrated community health worker intervention in rural Nepal: A type 2 hybrid effectiveness-implementation study protocol

Authors:

Sheela Maru, Isha Nirola, Aradhana Thapa, Poshan Thapa, Lal Kunwar, Wan-Ju Wu, Scott Halliday, David Citrin, Ryan Schwarz, Indira Basnett, Naresh KC, Khem Karki, Pushpa Chaudhari and Duncan Maru

University of Washington affiliated authors are displayed in bold.

✪ Open Access

Published: March 2018

Read the full text in the open access journal Implementation Science

Abstract:

Background

Evidence-based medicines, technologies, and protocols exist to prevent many of the annual 300,000 maternal, 2.7 million neonatal, and 9 million child deaths, but they are not being effectively implemented and utilized in rural areas. Nepal, one of South Asia’s poorest countries with over 80% of its population living in rural areas, exemplifies this challenge.
Community health workers are an important cadre in low-income countries where human resources for health and health care infrastructure are limited. As local women, they are uniquely positioned to understand and successfully navigate barriers to health care access. Recent case studies of large community health worker programs have highlighted the
importance of training, both initial and ongoing, and accountability through structured management, salaries, and ongoing monitoring and evaluation. A gap in the evidence regarding whether such community health worker systems can change health outcomes, as well as be sustainably adopted at scale, remains. In this study, we plan to evaluate a community
health worker system delivering an evidence-based integrated reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health intervention as it is scaled up in rural Nepal.

Methods

We will conduct a type 2 hybrid effectiveness-implementation study to test both the effect of an integrated reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health intervention and the implementation process via a professional community health worker system. The intervention integrates five evidence-based approaches: (1) home-based antenatal care and post-natal
care counseling and care coordination; (2) continuous surveillance of all reproductive age women, pregnancies, and children under age 2 years via a mobile application; (3) Community-Based Integrated Management of Newborn and Childhood Illness; (4) group antenatal and postnatal care; and 5) the Balanced Counseling Strategy to post-partum
contraception. We will evaluate effectiveness using a pre-post quasi-experimental design with stepped implementation and implementation using the RE-AIM framework.

Discussion

This is the first hybrid effectiveness-implementation study of an integrated reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health intervention in rural Nepal that we are aware of. As Nepal takes steps towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, the data from this three-year study will be useful in the detailed planning of a professionalized
community health worker cadre delivering evidence-based reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health interventions to the country’s rural population.

Trial registration

ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03371186, registered 04 December 2017, retrospectively registered.

**This abstract is posted with permission under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License**

✪ Developing measures to assess constructs from the Inner Setting domain of the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research

Authors:

Maria E. Fernandez, Timothy J. Walker, Bryan J. Weiner, William A. Calo, Shuting Liang, Betsy Risendal, Daniela B. Friedman, Shin Ping Tu, Rebecca S. Williams, Sara Jacobs, Alison K. Herrmann and Michelle C. Kegler

University of Washington affiliated authors are displayed in bold.

✪ Open Access

Published: March 2018

Read the full text in the open access journal Implementation Science

Abstract:

Background

Scientists and practitioners alike need reliable, valid measures of contextual factors that influence implementation. Yet, few existing measures demonstrate reliability or validity. To meet this need, we developed and assessed the psychometric properties of measures of several constructs within the Inner Setting domain of the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR).

Methods

We searched the literature for existing measures for the 7 Inner Setting domain constructs (Culture Overall, Culture Stress, Culture Effort, Implementation Climate, Learning Climate, Leadership Engagement, and Available Resources). We adapted items for the healthcare context, pilot-tested the adapted measures in 4 Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), and implemented the revised measures in 78 FQHCs in the 7 states (N = 327 respondents) with a focus on colorectal cancer (CRC) screening practices. To psychometrically assess our measures, we conducted confirmatory factor analysis models (CFA; structural validity), assessed inter-item consistency (reliability), computed scale correlations (discriminant validity), and calculated inter-rater reliability and agreement (organization-level construct reliability and validity).

Results

CFAs for most constructs exhibited good model fit (CFI > 0.90, TLI > 0.90, SRMR < 0.08, RMSEA < 0.08), with almost all factor loadings exceeding 0.40. Scale reliabilities ranged from good (0.7 ≤ α < 0.9) to excellent (α ≥ 0.9). Scale correlations fell below 0.90, indicating discriminant validity. Inter-rater reliability and agreement were sufficiently high to justify measuring constructs at the clinic-level.

Conclusions

Our findings provide psychometric evidence in support of the CFIR Inner Setting measures. Our findings also suggest the Inner Setting measures from individuals can be aggregated to represent the clinic-level. Measurement of the Inner Setting constructs can be useful in better understanding and predicting implementation in FQHCs and can be used to identify targets of strategies to accelerate and enhance implementation efforts in FQHCs.

**This abstract is posted with permission under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License**

The influence of formal and informal policies and practices on health care innovation implementation: A mixed-methods analysis

Authors:

Lisa D. DiMartino, Sarah A. Birken, Laura C. Hanson, Justin G. Trogdon, Alecia S. Clary, Morris Weinberger, Katherine Reeder-Hayes, & Bryan J. Weiner

University of Washington affiliated authors are displayed in bold.

Subscription Required for Full Text Access

Published: March 2018

Read the full text in the subscription access journal Health Care Management Review

✪ A Mobile Health Strategy to Support Adherence to Antiretroviral Preexposure Prophylaxis

Authors:

Jonathan D. Fuchs, Kristefer Stojanovski, Eric Vittinghoff, Vanessa M. McMahan, Sybill G. Hosek, K. Rivet Amico, Aminta Kouyate, Hailey J. Gilmore, Susan P. Buchbinder, Richard T. Lester, Robert M. Grant, and Albert Y. Liu

University of Washington affiliated authors are displayed in bold.

✪ Open Access

Published: March 2018

Read the full text open access in the journal AIDS Patient Care and STDs