Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Mapping training needs for dissemination and implementation research: lessons from a synthesis of existing D&I research training programs

  • Case Study
  • Published:
Translational Behavioral Medicine

An Erratum to this article was published on 27 May 2016

This article has been updated

Abstract

With recent growth in the field of dissemination and implementation (D&I) research, multiple training programs have been developed to build capacity, including summer training institutes, graduate courses, degree programs, workshops, and conferences. While opportunities for D&I research training have expanded, course organizers acknowledge that available slots are insufficient to meet demand within the scientific and practitioner community. In addition, individual programs have struggled to best fit various needs of trainees, sometimes splitting coursework between specific D&I content and more introductory grant writing material. This article, stemming from a 2013 NIH workshop, reviews experiences across multiple training programs to align training needs, career stage and role, and availability of programs. We briefly review D&I needs and opportunities by career stage and role, discuss variations among existing training programs in format, mentoring relationships, and other characteristics, identify challenges of mapping needs of trainees to programs, and present recommendations for future D&I research training.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Change history

  • 27 May 2016

    An erratum to this article has been published.

References

  1. Bero LA, Grilli R, Grimshaw JM, et al. Closing the gap between research and practice: an overview of systematic reviews of interventions to promote the implementation of research findings. The Cochrane Effective Practice and Organization of Care Review Group. BMJ. 1998; 317(7156): 465-468.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  2. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health: Funding Opportunity Description. http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-13-055.html. Accessed 9 Oct 2015.

  3. National Cancer Institute, Division of Cancer Control & Population Sciences: Implementation Science. http://cancercontrol.cancer.gov/IS/. (2015). Accessed 9 Oct 2015.

  4. Meissner HI, Glasgow RE, Vinson CA, et al. The U.S. training institute for dissemination and implementation research in health. Implement Sci. 2013; 8: 12.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  5. Proctor, EK, Landsverk, J, Baumann, AA, Mittman, BS, Aarons, GA, Brownson, RC, … & Chambers, D. The implementation research institute: training mental health implementation researchers in the United States. Implement Sci. 2013;8(1):1–12.

  6. Washington University in St. Louis, Prevention Research Center in St. Louis: Mentored Training for Dissemination and Implementation Research in Cancer. http://mtdirc.org/. Accessed 9 Oct 2015.

  7. Knowledge Translation Canada, KT Clearinghouse: KT Canada Summer Institute on Knowledge Translation. http://ktclearinghouse.ca/ktcanada/education/summerinstitute. Accessed 9 Oct 2015.

  8. Prevention and Control of Cancer: Post-Doctoral Training in Implementation Science (PRACCTIS). http://www.umassmed.edu/pracctis. Accessed 15 Feb 2016.

  9. National Institutes of Health, Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research: Funding Opportunities for Dissemination and Implementation Research. http://obssr.od.nih.gov/scientific_areas/translation/dissemination_and_implementation/. Accessed 9 Oct 2015.

  10. Norton WE. Advancing the science and practice of dissemination and implementation in health: a novel course for public health students and academic researchers. Public Health Rep. 2014; 129(6): 536-542.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  11. National Cancer Institute, Division of Cancer Control & Population Sciences: Implementation Science Webinars. (2014) https://cyberseminar.cancercontrolplanet.org/implementationscience/. Accessed 9 Oct 2015.

  12. Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Knowledge Translation and Commercialization: Best Brains Exchange. (2012). http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/43978.html. Accessed 9 Oct 2015.

  13. Gonzales R, Handley MA, Ackerman S, et al. Increasing the translation of evidence into practice, policy, and public health improvements: a framework for training health professionals in implementation and dissemination science. Acad Med. 2012; 87(3): 271-278.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  14. Stamatakis KA, Norton WE, Stirman SW, et al. Developing the next generation of dissemination and implementation researchers: insights from initial trainees. Implement Sci. 2013; 8(1): 29.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  15. Tabak RG, Stamatakis KA, Jacobs JA, et al. What predicts dissemination efforts among public health researchers in the United States? Public Health Rep. 2014; 129(4): 361-368.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  16. Society for Implementation Research Collaboration. https://www.societyforimplementationresearchcollaboration.org/. Accessed 9 Oct 2015.

  17. National Cancer Institute: Research to Reality. https://researchtoreality.cancer.gov/. Accessed 9 Oct 2015.

  18. Davis DA, Thomson MA, Oxman AD, et al. Changing physician performance: a systematic review of the effect of continuing medical education strategies. JAMA. 1995; 274(9): 700-705.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Cancer Prevention and Control Research Network. Putting Public Health Evidence in Action Training Workshop. In: Prevention Research Center Program’s Training Workshop Facilitator’s Guide. 2014. http://cpcrn.org/pub/evidence-in-action/. Accessed 9 Oct 2015.

  20. Brownson RC, Royer C, Ewing R, et al. Researchers and policymakers travelers in parallel universes. Am J Prev Med. 2006; 30(2): 164-172.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Hall KL, Feng AX, Moser RP, et al. Moving the science of team science forward: collaboration and creativity. Am J Prev Med. 2008; 35(2 Suppl): S243-S249.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  22. Azrin ST, Chambers DA. News from the NIH: improving health and reducing premature mortality in people with serious mental illnesses. Transl Behav Med. 2014; 4(1): 1-3.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Tinkle M, Kimball R, Haozous EA, Shuster G, Meize-Grochowski R. Dissemination and implementation research funded by the US National Institutes of Health, 2005–2012. Nursing Research and Practice. 2013.

  24. Oxman AD, Thomson MA, Davis DA, et al. No magic bullets: a systematic review of 102 trials of interventions to improve professional practice. CMAJ. 1995; 153(10): 1423-1431.

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  25. Strauss SE, Sackett DL. Mentorship in academic medicine. Oxford: Wiley Blackwell; 2014.

    Google Scholar 

  26. Campbell CR, Lomperis AM, Gillespie KN, et al. Competency-based healthcare management education: the Saint Louis University experience. J Health Adm Educ. 2006; 23(2): 135-168.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Institute of Medicine. Who will keep the public healthy? educating public health professionals for the 21st century. Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press; 2003.

    Google Scholar 

  28. O’Donnell JF. Competencies are all the rage in education. J Cancer Educ. 2004; 19(2): 74-75.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Parry S. Just what is a competency (and why should we care?). Training. 1998; 35: 58-64.

    Google Scholar 

  30. O’Donnell JF. A most important competency: professionalism. What is it? J Cancer Educ. 2004; 19(4): 202-203.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Scharff DP, Rabin BA, Cook RA, et al. Bridging research and practice through competency-based public health education. J Public Health Manag Pract. 2008; 14(2): 131-137.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Padek M, Colditz, Dobbins M, et al. Developing educational competencies for dissemination and implementation research training programs: an exploratory analysis using card sorts. Implement Sci. 2015; 10(1): 114.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the participants of the 6th NIH Meeting on Advancing the Science of Dissemination and Implementation Research, September 12–12, 2013, Rockville, MD. Affiliations reflect those at the time of the September 2013 meeting: Alice Ammerman, UNC-Chapel Hill; Martha Bruce, Weill Cornell Medical Center; Alicia Bunger, Ohio State University; Melissa Davey-Rothwell, Johns Hopkins University; Ralph Gonzales, UCSF; Kathleen Handley, NIH/FIC; Margaret Handley, UCSF; Kimberly Hoagwood, NYU Medical Center; Kristen Huntley, NIH/NCCAM; Robert Kaplan, NIH/OBSSR; Amy Kilbourne, VA/QUERI; Helen Meissner, NIH/OBSSR; Gila Neta, NIH/NCI; Michael Ong, UCLA; Thomas Patterson, UCSD; Kenneth Sherr, University of Washington; Lisa Simpson, AcademyHealth; Sharon Straus, University of Toronto; Cynthia Vinson, NIH/NCI; Glenn Wagner, RAND Corporation; Kenneth Wells, UCLA.

This work was also supported by National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health Mentored Training for Dissemination and Implementation Research in Cancer Program (MT-DIRC) (Grant Number 5R25CA171994-02); the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK Grant Number 1P30DK092950); and the Dissemination and Implementation Research Core of Washington University in St. Louis’ Institute of Clinical and Translational Sciences (Grant Number UL1 TR000448).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA

    David A. Chambers DPhil

  2. George Warren Brown School of Social Work, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA

    Enola K. Proctor PhD

  3. Prevention Research Center in St. Louis, Brown School, Washington University in St. Louis, 621 N. Skinker Blvd., St. Louis, MO, 63130, USA

    Ross C. Brownson PhD

  4. Division of Public Health Sciences and Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center, Washington University School of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA

    Ross C. Brownson PhD

  5. Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael’s Hospital, 30 Bond Street, Toronto, ON, M5B 1 W8, Canada

    Sharon E. Straus MD

Authors
  1. David A. Chambers DPhil
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Enola K. Proctor PhD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Ross C. Brownson PhD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Sharon E. Straus MD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to David A. Chambers DPhil.

Additional information

An erratum to this article is available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s13142-016-0411-y.

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Chambers, D.A., Proctor, E.K., Brownson, R.C. et al. Mapping training needs for dissemination and implementation research: lessons from a synthesis of existing D&I research training programs. Behav. Med. Pract. Policy Res. 7, 593–601 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13142-016-0399-3

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13142-016-0399-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation