Getting what works where it’s needed most
We have witnessed remarkable advances in medical science and the discovery of new medicines, vaccines, and diagnostic tools that have the potential to significantly improve health and wellbeing globally. However, the translation of research findings into practice has been slow and uneven, leading to a widening gap between what is known and what is done in practice. This phenomenon is what the World Health Organization refers to as the “know-do gap.”
Implementation science has the potential to reduce this gap through the application of systematic research and evaluation approaches. These approaches can be used to identify and address barriers to effective replication and scale-up of evidence-based interventions that are specific to local settings.
The Implementation Science in Global Health Summer Institute is a one-week intensive course with two tracks: one track provides participants with the opportunity to get an introduction to the field, and for those who already have an introductory understanding of implementation science, a second track deepens training in IS methods and their application.
The Fundamentals of Implementation Science track provides course participants with an introduction to the emerging field of implementation research by outlining a framework of methods that are applied to improving implementation (including applied engineering, management tools, health systems, and policy research).
Newly introduced in 2023, the Advanced Training in Implementation Science track goes deeper into formal methods from the field through didactic teaching and applied learning. The advanced track is appropriate for those who have previously attended the Fundamentals of Implementation Science course or have participated in other introductory implementation science training activities.
Over the course of the week, students will be presented with implementation science didactic lectures and case studies. Lectures will define the conceptual frameworks and appropriate methodologies for implementation science. Case studies presented in daily “Implementation Science in Practice” sessions contextualize didactic content through the work of global health professionals.
Tentative topics covered, subject to change:
- Introduction to Implementation Science
- Implementation Strategies and Outcomes
- Implementation Science Theories and Frameworks
- Implementation Science Data Sources (Fundamentals)
- Developing Implementation Strategies (Advanced)
- Introduction to Impact Evaluation (Fundamentals)
- Causal Pathway Diagrams (Advanded)
- Implementation Science Study Designs (Fundamentals)
- Hybrid Study Designs (Advanced)
- Economic Analysis (Fundamentals)
- Experimental Study Designs (Advanced)
- Qualitative Methods (Fundamentals)
- Quasi-experimental Study Designs (Advanced)
- Organizational Readiness and Assessment
- Stakeholder Engagement in Global Health Programs
- Simulation and Optimization in Healthcare Modelling (Fundamentals)
- Explanatory Frameworks (Advanced)
- Quality Improvement as a Management Tool (Fundamentals)
- Evaluation Frameworks (Advanced)
- Advancing Policy through Implementation Science
- IS Grant Writing and Funding