Implementation Science in Public Health

In recent decades there has been an unprecedented increase in the level of funding for public health and medical research, which has resulted in interventions that are proven to prevent and cure disease and prolong individuals’ quality of life. While this presents a unique opportunity to achieve large-scale improvements in population health, meeting this moment implies the need for appropriate, scalable strategies to ensure that achievements in scientific discovery reach populations in a manner that is widespread, equitable, high quality and sustainable. This quest remains elusive. Indeed, it has been estimated that it takes, on average, 17 years to translate 14% of evidence-based interventions (EBI) that arose from original research into programs that reach large populations through routine health care delivery systems. How, then, do we take what we ‘know’ and do it better when we introduce, implement, and spread EBI in health systems? Implementation science draws upon diverse disciplinary traditions and provides conceptual and methodological approaches for systematically and scientifically framing and answering such questions. In doing so, implementation science helps health systems bridge the “know-do gap” and creates opportunities for achieving universal health coverage and other global health goals. The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the field of implementation science and prepare them as practitioners and researchers on how to apply its principles, frameworks, and methods in ‘real world’ settings. Through a combination of lecture, readings, discussion and assignments, students will learn how to examine the evidence base of effective interventions; understand and contextualize “evidence-to-practice” gap(s); select, adapt, and apply implementation strategies to address those gaps; and critique and design research studies for the purpose of understanding whether these strategies succeed, or not, and why. Throughout the 14 modules of the course, a balanced emphasis will be placed on theory and methods and their application in case studies taking place both in the United States and in low- and middle-income countries. In addition, through case studies, students will learn how salient public health priorities are advanced through the application of implementation science theories and methods (e.g., health equity and disparities reduction, building resilient health systems and communities, sustainability and sustainment).