FIRST THINGS FIRST...

What is 

Implementation Science?

“It takes an estimated average of 17 years for only 14% of new scientific discoveries to enter day-to-day clinical practice”1,2

“The median translation lag is 24 years between first description and earliest highly cited article” 3,4

Implementation science can be described as...

• The study of how evidence can be incorporated into every day practice.

• This evidence can be related to many aspects of patient care and  include new treatments, psychosocial care or referral pathways.
• Implementation science overlaps with Quality Improvement, although Implementation science is more related to research questions and structured evaluations of impact.

• Canada is a leader in Implementation Science though Canadians use the term Knowledge Translation (see KT Clearing House website).

• In the UK the term Improvement Science is now often used.
• "Investigators explore ways of applying recommendations or guidelines in general practice. T3 research yields knowledge about how interventions work in real-world settings" - Harvard Catalyst website

With so many names globally and locally it can be tricky to describe what implementation science is and how it fits into the bigger picture of health care delivery and research. If you work within a Translational Cancer Research Centre you may have heard of the Translational Research pathway from T1 to T3, with T3 relating to Implementation science. This is the Westfall model as below.

Case Study Example 

See how one clinician uses T3 research to impact the lives of patients at risk of developing diabetes. The case study video and image below which provides examples of work considered T3/Implementation science is taken from Harvard Catalyst website here http://catalyst.harvard.edu/pathfinder/t3diabetes.html

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References:
1. Westfall JM , Mold J , Fagnan L . Practice-based research— “Blue Highways” on the NIH roadmap . JAMA. 2007; 297( 4 ): 403–406.
2. Balas EA , Boren SA . Managing Clinical Knowledge for Healthcare Improvement. Yearbook of Medical Informatics. Stuttgart, Germany: Schattauer Verlagsgesellschaft mbH; 2000.
3. Trochim W, Kane C, Graham MJ, Pincus HA. Evaluating translational research: a process marker model. Clin Transl Sci. 2011; 4 (3): 153-62.
4. Contopoulos-Ioannidis DG , Alexiou GA , Gouvias TC , Ioannidis JP . Life cycle of translational research for medical interventions. Science. 2008; 321: 1298–1299.
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