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Summer Institute on Implementation Science

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Summer Institute on Implementation Science – 2019

Beginning the Conversation on Equity and Implementation Science – Program available here

Purpose

The second annual Summer Institute seeks to share methods and tools for integrating equity and inclusion in implementation science and practice.

Objectives

The Institute will support social workers and public health professionals to:

  • Identify strategies for equitable implementation of innovations and evidence-based and evidence-informed practices
  • Use evidence to promote improved and equitable outcomes for people and communities

The Institute will support implementation researchers and practitioners to:

  • Identify research questions that amplify an equity focus
  • Identify changes that are needed to the pedagogy, frameworks, and measures of implementation science to incorporate attention to equity
  • Use methods that increase stakeholder participation in implementation efforts

*For additional media related to implementation, tune in to the National Implementation Research Network podcast!

Pre-Institute Workshops: Building Foundations in Implementation Science and Equity (June 10, 2019)

Summer Institute Day 1: Beginning a Conversation on Equitable Implementation (June 11, 2019)

  • 8:30 – 9:00 – Welcome and Opening Remarks (Gary Bowen, Ayse Belger, Bob Blouin, Sarah Verbiest, and Allison Metz)
  • 9:00 – 9:45 – Plenary: Reframing Implementation Science to Address Healthcare Inequities (Leo Cabassa) 
  • 10:00 – 10:45 – Plenary: Five Recommendations for Implementation Science to Advance Equity (Kim DuMont, Allison Metz and Beadsie Woo)
  • 10:45 – 10:55 – Institute Overview: What comes next? (Sarah Verbiest)
  • 11:15 – 12:30 – Group Breakout: Beginning the Conversation on Implementation Science and Equity
  • 12:30 – 1:30 – Lunch
  • 1:30 – 3:15 – Group Breakout:
    • Breakout A: Understanding Group Dynamics to Improve Teamwork (Marilyn Ghezzi and Hayden Dawes)
    • Breakout B: Using Data to Promote Equitable Implementation: Decision-Making, Data, and Uncertainty in Complex Systems (Kirsten Kainz and Rohit Ramaswamy)
    • Breakout C: Assessing Fit and Feasibility for Implementation: A Country Wide Case Example (Allison Metz, Laura Louison, Judy Thomson and Marita Brack)
    • Breakout D: Interrogating “Community” and Equity in Implementation: Lessons Learned from the Community Defined Evidence Project (Linda Callejas)
  • 3:30 – 4:30 – Plenary: Implementation Science Using a Culturally Responsive and Racial Equity Lens (Paul Elam)
  • 5:00 – 6:30 – Reception and Networking

Summer Institute Day 2: Practicing Implementation Strategies to Advance Equity (June 12, 2019)

  • 8:30 – 8:45 – Reflections from Day 1 (Allison Metz and Sarah Verbiest)
  • 8:45 – 10:00 – Plenary: Implementation Strategies and Stakeholder Engagement
    • The Possibilities and Pitfalls of Stakeholder Engagement: Developing and Tailoring Implementation Strategies (Amber Haley and Byron Powell)
    • Stakeholder Engagement: Finding the Fit through Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (Lisa Saldana)
  • 10:30 – 12:00 – Group Breakout:
  • 12:00 – 1:00 – Lunch
  • 1:00 – 1:45 – Plenary: Advancing Equity through Policy Implementation: Seizing the Opportunity within the Family First Prevention Services Act (Alexandra Citrin)​​​​​​​
  • 2:15 – 3:45 – Application Labs: What, So What, Now What?
  • 4:00 – 4:30 – Closing Remarks: Reflections on the Intersection of Implementation Science and Equity

Additional Resources

 

 

Summer Institute on Implementation Science – 2018

This inaugural event was co-hosted by the Jordan Institute for Families | UNC School of Social Work, the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, and National Implementation Research Network (NIRN). Generous support for this event was provided by The Annie E. Casey Foundation. Additional support was generously offered by the UNC School of Education, the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, and the UNC Eshelman School of Pharamcy.

Background/Need

Social workers and public health professionals interested in facilitating and understanding change processes note that implementation strategies have unparalleled importance in improving population outcomes, as they constitute the ‘how to’ component (Proctor, Powell, & McMillen, 2013) of changing practices and optimizing the use of evidence to benefit people and communities (Kainz & Metz, 2017). As the field of implementation science has grown significantly over the last decade with the proliferation of frameworks, models, and theories, there is mounting interest in building the capacity of professionals in social services and public health to make use of this emerging science to support sustainable practice and systems improvements.

This interest has led to an intensifying conversation regarding the need to train researchers and practitioners in implementation science (Padek et al., 2015).  Specifically, the shortage of individuals trained in the practice of implementation has been cited as a reason for our failure to optimize the use of evidence to improve population outcomes (Straus et al., 2011.)  In response to this gap, more is being studied and written about the specific competencies needed to facilitate change in complex systems (Bornbaum, Kornas, Peirson, & Rosella, 2015; Berta, et al., 2015). Moreover, the Grand Challenges Initiative developed by the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare (Sherradon et al., 2015) explicates a set of pressing social issues, around which social work researchers and practitioners can unite. The highlighted challenges are complex, and will require the cultivation of implementation competencies among the researchers and practitioners who are positioned to address them.

Purpose

This new two-day Summer Institute seeks to provide foundational knowledge of implementation science and to build professional and graduate students’ knowledge, skills, and strategies for supporting change using implementation best practices. Through interdisciplinary professional development and seminar series, this Summer Institute orients participants to the skills and competencies of implementation practice and fosters the development of foundational skills needed to support the use of evidence in practice and to promote equity.

Objectives

The Summer Institute aims to seed the growth of implementation science practitioners who will be able to:

  • Identify and characterize problems that can be addressed through more effective implementation.
  • Support authentic engagement of communities and stakeholders in all stages of the implementation process resulting in programs and practices that are contextualized, tailored to settings to improve outcomes, and promotive of equity.
  • Integrate use of quantitative and qualitative feedback at each stage of implementation to optimize performance of programs and practices in local contexts and at scale.
  • Support the sustainability of interventions and approaches by developing a shared vision, building capacity, and supporting collaboration.

A unififying element of the institute is the promotion and cultivation of Skills and Competencies for Implementation Practitioners, namely: Co-Creation, in the form of co-learning, brokering, addressing power differentials, co-design, and tailored support; Continuous Improvement, in the form of assessing need and context, applying and integrating implementation science approaches, and conducting improvement cycles; and Sustaining Change, in the form of growing and sustaining relationships, building capacity, cultivating leadership, and facilitation.

*For additional media related to implementation, tune in to the National Implementation Research Network podcast!

Below is the 2018 Summer Institute agenda, with related materials available for download or viewing. The full program is available here.

2018 Summer Institute Agenda

  • Summer Institute Day 1: Foundational Knowledge (June, 13, 2018)

 

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