Abstract
A lack of community and leadership support has been previously identified as a potential barrier to engaging in implementation research. With the aim to identify specific support factors influencing implementation research behavior, we performed an online survey of health researchers in the USA in 2018. Implementation research behaviors and perceived support for implementation research were measured. Support was measured from 1 (none) to 5 (most) community members/leaders perceived to have a characteristic. Measurement of engagement in each implementation research behavior was binary. We performed multivariable logistic regression models of perceived support as predictors of engagement of each implementation research behavior. Of the 1767 health researchers, 90.4% reported using implementation measures, 49.7% reported participating in implementation studies, and only 37.2% reported applying for implementation-focused funding. Implementation measure use was more likely with each increase in perceived level of support in the form of community concern with implementation and having leaders prioritize implementation efforts. Existing efforts to increase implementation research nearly tripled the likelihood of participating in an implementation study and more than doubled studying previously successful intervention trials in a real-world setting. To increase engagement in implementation research, efforts beyond raising community awareness of implementation science are needed. Engaging leadership may be more likely to generate the funding and structural support needed to reduce barriers to implementation research engagement.
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The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
The author wishes to acknowledge Drs. Donna Shelley and Bernadette Boden-Albala for their contributions to the survey design.
Funding
This study was funded by the New York University Dean’s Doctoral Research Scholarship.
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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. The study protocol was approved by New York University IRB and all participants gave consent when completing the survey.
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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
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Stevens, E.R. The Influence of Community and Leadership Support on Implementation Research Behaviors. Glob Implement Res Appl 1, 102–108 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43477-021-00015-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s43477-021-00015-2