A Review of the COVID-19 Mental Health Impact in Post-Conflict Settings: Bridging the Mental Health Gap with Case Exemplars from an Implementation Science Lens.

The COVID-19 pandemic has further aggravated the burden of mental health and presents an opportunity for public health research to focus on evidence-based interventions appropriate for populations residing in resource-constrained, post-conflict settings. Post-conflict settings have a higher service gap in mental health and fewer protective factors, such as economic and domestic security. Post-conflict settings are defined as locations where open warfare has ended but resulting challenges have remained for years. A strong emphasis on the engagement of diverse stakeholders is needed to arrive at sustainable and scalable solutions to mental health service delivery. This review discusses mental health service delivery gaps in post-conflict settings, highlights the urgency of the matter in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, and provides recommendations for service gaps from evidence-based case study exemplars with an implementation science lens using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) as guide to improving adaptation and uptake.

MCH Leadership Training Program: An Innovative Application of an Implementation Science Framework.

INTRODUCTION: MCH training programs in schools of public health provide specialized training to develop culturally competent and skilled MCH leaders who will play key roles in public health infrastructure. Previous literature has reported on the effectiveness of MCH training programs (e.g., number of trainees, improvement in knowledge/skills); less attention has been devoted to understanding factors influencing program implementation during times of rapid change, while considering internal and external contexts (e.g., global pandemic, social unrest, uncertainty of funding, mental health issues, and other crises). PURPOSE: This article describes a graduate-level MCH leadership training program and illustrates how an implementation science framework can inform the identification of determinants and lessons learned during one year of implementation of a multi-year program. ASSESSMENT: Findings reveal how CFIR can be applicable to a MCH training program and highlight how constructs across domains can interact and represent determinants that serve as both a barrier and facilitator. Key lessons learned included the value of accountability, flexibility, learner-centeredness, and partnerships. CONCLUSION: Findings may apply to other programs and settings and could advance innovative training efforts that necessitate attention to the multi-level stakeholder needs (e.g., student, program, institution, community, and local/regional/national levels). Applying CFIR could be useful when interpreting process and outcome evaluation data and transferring findings and lessons learned to other organizations and settings. Integrating implementation science specifically into MCH training programs could contribute to the rigor, adaptability, and dissemination efforts that are critical when learning and sharing best practices to expand leadership capacity efforts that aim to eliminate MCH disparities across systems.

Implementation Science Perspectives on Implementing Telemedicine Interventions for Hypertension or Diabetes Management: Scoping Review.

BACKGROUND: Hypertension and diabetes are becoming increasingly prevalent worldwide. Telemedicine is an accessible and cost-effective means of supporting hypertension and diabetes management, especially as the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the adoption of technological solutions for care. However, to date, no review has examined the contextual factors that influence the implementation of telemedicine interventions for hypertension or diabetes worldwide. OBJECTIVE: We adopted a comprehensive implementation research perspective to synthesize the barriers to and facilitators of implementing telemedicine interventions for the management of hypertension, diabetes, or both. METHODS: We performed a scoping review involving searches in Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and Google Scholar to identify studies published in English from 2017 to 2022 describing barriers and facilitators related to the implementation of telemedicine interventions for hypertension and diabetes management. The coding and synthesis of barriers and facilitators were guided by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research. RESULTS: Of the 17,687 records identified, 35 (0.2%) studies were included in our scoping review. We found that facilitators of and barriers to implementation were dispersed across the constructs of the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research. Barriers related to cost, patient needs and resources (eg, lack of consideration of language needs, culture, and rural residency), and personal attributes of patients (eg, demographics and priorities) were the most common. Facilitators related to the design and packaging of the intervention (eg, user-friendliness), patient needs and resources (eg, personalized information that leveraged existing strengths), implementation climate (eg, intervention embedded into existing infrastructure), knowledge of and beliefs about the intervention (eg, convenience of telemedicine), and other personal attributes (eg, technical literacy) were the most common. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that the successful implementation of telemedicine interventions for hypertension and diabetes requires comprehensive efforts at the planning, execution, engagement, and reflection and evaluation stages of intervention implementation to address challenges at the individual, interpersonal, organizational, and environmental levels.

Piloting an online telecoaching community-based exercise intervention with adults living with HIV: protocol for a mixed-methods implementation science study.

INTRODUCTION: Our aim is to evaluate the implementation of an online telecoaching community-based exercise (CBE) intervention with the goal of reducing disability and enhancing physical activity and health among adults living with HIV. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: We will conduct a prospective longitudinal mixed-methods two-phased intervention study to pilot the implementation of an online CBE intervention with ~30 adults (≥18 years) living with HIV who consider themselves safe to participate in exercise. In the intervention phase (0-6 months), participants will take part in an online CBE intervention involving thrice weekly exercise (aerobic, resistance, balance and flexibility), with supervised biweekly personal training sessions with a fitness instructor, YMCA membership providing access to online exercise classes, wireless physical activity monitor to track physical activity and monthly online educational sessions on topics related to HIV, physical activity and health. In the follow-up phase (6-12 months), participants will be encouraged to continue independent exercise thrice weekly. Quantitative assessment: Bimonthly, we will assess cardiopulmonary fitness, strength, weight, body composition and flexibility, followed by administering self-reported questionnaires to assess disability, contextual factor outcomes (mastery, engagement in care, stigma, social support), implementation factors (cost, feasibility, technology), health status and self-reported physical activity. We will conduct a segmented regression analyses to describe the change in level and trend between the intervention and follow-up phases. Qualitative assessment: We will conduct online interviews with a subsample of ~10 participants and 5 CBE stakeholders at baseline (month 0), postintervention (month 6) and end of follow-up (month 12) to explore experiences, impact and implementation factors for online CBE. Interviews will be audiorecorded and analysed using content analytical techniques. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Protocol approved by the University of Toronto Research Ethics Board (Protocol # 40410). Knowledge translation will occur in the form of presentations and publications in open-access peer-reviewed journals. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT05006391.

Implementation Science for Eliminating HIV Among Adolescents in High-Burden African Countries: Findings and Lessons Learned from the Adolescent HIV Prevention and Treatment Implementation Science Alliance (AHISA).

Eliminating adolescent HIV in high-burden African countries depends on the success of implementing evidence-based interventions to reduce transmission and improve treatment outcomes. The Adolescent HIV Prevention and Treatment Implementation Science Alliance (AHISA) takes a collaborative approach to addressing key challenges and identifying and developing new areas of investigation to advance the adolescent HIV agenda. This special supplement represents the collective learning of the Alliance related to implementation science in the context of the adolescent HIV continuum of care from multiple African countries. Specifically, this series describes the current academic landscape of adolescent HIV and implementation science, such as the methodological use and utility of implementation measures and frameworks; addresses timely topics such as the use of innovative technologies for study adaptations in the context of the global COVID-19 pandemic; and explores opportunities to enhance adolescent-responsive approaches to HIV prevention and treatment using implementation science.

From disgusting and complicated to simple and brilliant: Implementation perspectives and lessons learned from users and rejectors of mail-in SARS-CoV-2 gargle tests.

Background: Despite the important role of testing as a measure against the COVID-19 pandemic, user perspectives on SARS-CoV-2 tests remain scarce, inhibiting an improvement of testing approaches. As the world enters the third year of the pandemic, more nuanced perspectives of testing, and opportunities to expand testing in a feasible and affordable manner merit consideration. Methods: Conducted amid the second pandemic wave (late 2020-early 2021) during and after a multi-arm trial evaluating SARS-CoV-2 surveillance strategies in the federal state Baden-Württemberg, Germany, this qualitative sub-study aimed to gain a deeper understanding of how test users and test rejectors perceived mail-in SARS-CoV-2 gargle tests. We conducted 67 semi-structured in-depth interviews (mean duration: 60 min) via telephone or video call. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analyzed inductively using thematic analysis. The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research guided the findings' presentation. Results: Respondents generally described gargle sampling as simple and comfortable. However, individual perceptions of the testing method and its feasibility varied widely from disgusting and complicated to simple and brilliant. Self-sampling was appreciated for lowering infection risks during testing, but also considered more complex. Gargle-sampling increased participants' self-efficacy to sample correctly. Communication (first contact, quantity and content of information, reminders, support system) and trust (in the study, its institutional affiliation and test method) decisively influenced the intervention's acceptability. Conclusion: User-driven insights on how to streamline testing include: consider communication, first impressions of tests and information as key for successful mail-in testing; pay attention to the role of mutual trust between those taking and administering tests; implement gargle self-sampling as a pleasant alternative to swab testing; offer multiple test methods to increase test up-take.

Integrating Implementation Science in a Quality and Patient Safety Improvement Learning Collaborative: Essential Ingredients and Impact.

BACKGROUND: There is a current lack of research exploring the contextual factors of why and how quality improvement collaboratives (QICs) work. To this end, a mixed methods study was undertaken to improve our understanding of what works for whom and in what context among participants in a nationwide Canadian QIC. METHODS: The authors used a mixed methods approach consisting of a written survey and 30-to-45-minute telephone interviews with collaborative team members, coaches, and senior leaders of participating safety improvement project (SIP) organizations to identify the essential elements of an integrated approach involving implementation science/knowledge translation, quality improvement (QI), patient safety, and collaborative learning/networked approach to enhancing safety and quality and building implementation capabilities. Survey data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Interview data were analyzed by three team members using thematic analysis and development of an emergent coding schema. RESULTS: Four themes emerged as the essential elements: (1) integrating implementation science into the QI/patient safety learning collaborative; (2) reinforcing of and opening eyes to implementation science by an expert implementation specialist; (3) valuing the sense making and strategies shared by coaches; and (4) experiencing challenges to implementation amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic. Teams also reported improvements in teamwork and patient outcomes as a result of participating in the QIC. CONCLUSION: This study's findings provide deeper insight into the "essential ingredients" (expert implementation specialist, coaches) grounded in an integrated approach that drew from QI, patient safety, and implementation science. Organizations can use the key learnings on how best to implement quality and safety projects by leveraging the sense making of the expert implementation specialist and coaches in an integrated networked learning approach.

The Pediatric Guideline Adherence and Outcomes (PEGASUS Argentina) program in severe traumatic brain injury: study protocol adaptations during the COVID-19 pandemic for a multisite implementation-effectiveness cluster randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this protocol is to describe the study protocol changes made and subsequently implemented to the Pediatric Guideline Adherence and Outcomes (PEGASUS) Argentina randomized controlled trial (RCT) for care of children with severe traumatic brain injuries (TBI) imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The PEGASUS study group met in spring 2020 to evaluate available literature review guidance and the study design change or pausing options due to the potential interruption of research. METHODS: As a parallel cluster RCT, pediatric patients with severe TBIs are admitted to 8 control (usual care) and 8 intervention (PEGASUS program) hospitals in Argentina, Chile, and Paraguay. PEGASUS is an intervention that aims to increase guideline adherence and best practice care for improving patient outcomes using multi-level implementation science-based approaches. Strengths and weaknesses of proposed options were assessed and resulted in a decision to revert from a stepped wedge to a parallel cluster RCT but to not delay planned implementation. DISCUSSION: The parallel cluster design was considered more robust and flexible to secular interruptions and acceptable and feasible to the local study sites in this situation. Due to the early stage of the study, the team had flexibility to redesign and implement a design more compatible with the conditions of the research landscape in 2020 while balancing analytical methods and power, logistical and implementation feasibility, and acceptability. As of fall 2022, the PEGASUS RCT has been active for nearly 2 years of implementation and data collection, scheduled to be completed in in fall 2023. The experience of navigating research during this period will influence decisions about future research design, strategies, and contingencies. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Pediatric Guideline Adherence and Outcomes-Argentina. Registered with ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT03896789 on April 1, 2019.

A case study of adapting a health insurance decision intervention from trial into routine cancer care.

OBJECTIVE: This study adapted Improving Cancer Patients' Insurance Choices (I Can PIC), an intervention to help cancer patients navigate health insurance decisions and care costs. The original intervention improved knowledge and confidence making insurance decisions, however, users felt limited by choices provided in insurance markets. Using decision trees and frameworks to guide adaptations, we modified I Can PIC to focus on using rather than choosing health insurance. The COVID-19 pandemic introduced unforeseen obstacles, prompting changes to study protocols. As a result, we allowed users outside of the study to use I Can PIC (> 1050 guest users) to optimize public benefit. This paper describes the steps took to conduct the study, evaluating both the effectiveness of I Can PIC and the implementation process to improve its impact. RESULTS: Although I Can PIC users had higher knowledge and health insurance literacy compared to the control group, results were not statistically significant. This outcome may be associated with systems-level challenges as well as the number and demographic characteristics of participants. The publicly available tool can be a resource for those navigating insurance and care costs, and researchers can use this flexible approach to intervention delivery and testing as future health emergencies arise.

Advancing rapid adaptation for urgent public health crises: Using implementation science to facilitate effective and efficient responses.

Responding rapidly to emerging public health crises is vital to reducing their escalation, spread, and impact on population health. These responses, however, are challenging and disparate processes for researchers and practitioners. Researchers often develop new interventions that take significant time and resources, with little exportability. In contrast, community-serving systems are often poorly equipped to properly adopt new interventions or adapt existing ones in a data-driven way during crises' onset and escalation. This results in significant delays in deploying evidence-based interventions (EBIs) with notable public health consequences. This prolonged timeline for EBI development and implementation results in significant morbidity and mortality that is costly and preventable. As public health emergencies have demonstrated (e.g., COVID-19 pandemic), the negative consequences often exacerbate existing health disparities. Implementation science has the potential to bridge the extant gap between research and practice, and enhance equity in rapid public health responses, but is underutilized. For the field to have a greater "real-world" impact, it needs to be more rapid, iterative, participatory, and work within the timeframes of community-serving systems. This paper focuses on rapid adaptation as a developing implementation science area to facilitate system responses during public health crises. We highlight frameworks to guide rapid adaptation for optimizing existing EBIs when responding to urgent public health issues. We also explore the economic implications of rapid adaptation. Resource limitations are frequently a central reason for implementation failure; thus, we consider the economic impacts of rapid adaptation. Finally, we provide examples and propose directions for future research and application.

Key Elements and Mechanisms of a Peer-Support Intervention to Reduce Loneliness and Isolation among Low-Income Older Adults: A Qualitative Implementation Science Study.

This paper describes the evaluation of a longitudinal peer-support program developed to address loneliness and isolation among low-income, urban community-dwelling older adults in San Francisco. Our objective was to determine barriers, challenges, and successful strategies in implementation of the program. In-depth qualitative interviews with clients (n = 15) and peers (n = 6) were conducted and analyzed thematically by program component. We identified barriers and challenges to engagement and outlined strategies used to identify clients, match them with peers, and provide support to both peers and clients. We found that peers played a flexible, non-clinical role and were perceived as friends. Connections to community resources helped when clients needed additional support. We also documented creative strategies used to maintain inter-personal connections during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study fills a gap in understanding how a peer-support program can be designed to address loneliness and social isolation, particularly in low-income, urban settings.

Addressing health disparities through implementation science-a need to integrate an equity lens from the outset.

There is increasing attention being given to opportunities and approaches to advance health equity using implementation science. To reduce disparities in health, it is crucial that an equity lens is integrated from the earliest stages of the implementation process. In this paper, we outline four key pre-implementation steps and associated questions for implementation researchers to consider that may help guide selection and design of interventions and associated implementation strategies that are most likely to reach and be effective in reducing health disparities among vulnerable persons and communities.

A one-stop shop model for improved efficiency of pre-exposure prophylaxis delivery in public clinics in western Kenya: a mixed methods implementation science study.

INTRODUCTION: In public clinics in Kenya, separate, sequential delivery of the component services of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) (e.g. HIV testing, counselling, and dispensing) creates long wait times that hinder clients' ability and desire to access and continue PrEP. We conducted a mixed methods study in four public clinics in western Kenya to identify strategies for operationalizing a one-stop shop (OSS) model and evaluate whether this model could improve client wait time and care acceptability among clients and providers without negatively impacting uptake or continuation. METHODS: From January 2020 through November 2020, we collected and analysed 47 time-and-motion observations using Mann-Whitney U tests, 29 provider and client interviews, 68 technical assistance reports, and clinic flow maps from intervention clinics. We used controlled interrupted time series (cITS) to compare trends in PrEP initiation and on-time returns from a 12-month pre-intervention period (January-December 2019) to an 8-month post-period (January-November 2020, excluding a 3-month COVID-19 wash-out period) at intervention and control clinics. RESULTS: From the pre- to post-period, median client wait time at intervention clinics dropped significantly from 31 to 6 minutes (p = 0.02), while median provider contact time remained around 23 minutes (p = 0.4). Intervention clinics achieved efficiency gains by moving PrEP delivery to lower volume departments, moving steps closer together (e.g. relocating supplies; cross-training and task-shifting), and differentiating clients based on the subset of services needed. Clients and providers found the OSS model highly acceptable and additionally identified increased privacy, reduced stigma, and higher quality client-provider interactions as benefits of the model. From the pre- to post-period, average monthly initiations at intervention and control clinics increased by 6 and 2.3, respectively, and percent of expected follow-up visits occurring on time decreased by 18% and 26%, respectively; cITS analysis of PrEP initiations (n = 1227) and follow-up visits (n = 2696) revealed no significant difference between intervention and control clinics in terms of trends in PrEP initiation and on-time returns (all p>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: An OSS model significantly improved client wait time and care acceptability without negatively impacting initiations or continuations, thus highlighting opportunities to improve the efficiency of PrEP delivery efficiency and client-centredness.

Health systems strengthening, dissemination, and implementation science in Africa: quo vadis?

Implementing health-system strengthening policies remains a challenge in Africa. Past successes, predictable but unanticipated flaws, underutilization of health services, traditional medicine, global inequity and poor practice by local stakeholders are some of the reasons many African countries have made little progress towards attaining global health goals. As a result, Africa has the highest disease burden despite multiple efforts from the global health community. These raise the question: what has to change so that health systems strengthening efforts in Africa are successful?

Combining Improvement and Implementation Sciences and Practices for the Post COVID-19 Era.

Health services made many changes quickly in response to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Many more are being made. Some changes were already evaluated, and there are rigorous research methods and frameworks for evaluating their local implementation and effectiveness. But how useful are these methods for evaluating changes where evidence of effectiveness is uncertain, or which need adaptation in a rapidly changing situation? Has implementation science provided implementers with tools for effective implementation of changes that need to be made quickly in response to the demands of the pandemic? This perspectives article describes how parts of the research and practitioner communities can use and develop a combination of implementation and improvement to enable faster and more effective change in the future, especially where evidence of local effectiveness is limited. We draw on previous reviews about the advantages and disadvantages of combining these two domains of knowledge and practice. We describe a generic digitally assisted rapid cycle testing (DA-RCT) approach that combines elements of each in order to better describe a change, monitor outcomes, and make adjustments to the change when implemented in a dynamic environment.

Dissemination and Implementation Science Approaches for Occupational Safety and Health Research: Implications for Advancing Total Worker Health.

Total Worker Health® (TWH), an initiative of the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, is defined as policies, programs, and practices that integrate protection from work-related health and safety hazards by promoting efforts that advance worker well-being. Interventions that apply the TWH paradigm improve workplace health more rapidly than wellness programs alone. Evidence of the barriers and facilitators to the adoption, implementation, and long-term maintenance of TWH programs is limited. Dissemination and implementation (D&I) science, the study of methods and strategies for bridging the gap between public health research and practice, can help address these system-, setting-, and worker-level factors to increase the uptake, impact, and sustainment of TWH activities. The purpose of this paper is to draw upon a synthesis of existing D&I science literature to provide TWH researchers and practitioners with: (1) an overview of D&I science; (2) a plain language explanation of key concepts in D&I science; (3) a case study example of moving a TWH intervention down the research-to-practice pipeline; and (4) a discussion of future opportunities for conducting D&I science in complex and dynamic workplace settings to increase worker safety, health, and well-being.