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What Is Implementation Research? Rationale, Concepts, and Practices

University of Toronto

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: BhattacharyyaO{at}smh.toronto.on.ca.

	Abstract

Despite the growing knowledge base on evidence-based practices in social work and medicine, there is a large gap between what is known and what is consistently done. Implementation research is the study of methods to promote the uptake of research findings into routine practice. In this article, we describe the rationale for implementation research and outline the concepts and effectiveness of its practices. Despite a large number of systematic reviews of implementation interventions, many of the fundamental questions regarding what approaches should be used in which settings for which problems remain unanswered. We go on to argue that future implementation studies should assess the context of practice and key features of interventions to better inform service quality improvement efforts.

First published on May 27, 2009, doi:10.1177/1049731509335528

Research on Social Work Practice 2009;19:491.

A more recent version of this article appeared on September 1, 2009


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