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BACKGROUND/RATIONALE:
The VA has embraced the use of implementation research as a critical way to improve care by facilitating the adoption of proven medical practices. Yet implementation science still remains rudimentary. Challenges exist in judging the success of an implementation project. Rather than relying solely on hard outcomes, an investigator must also assess how effectively an intervention is put into place at a site. This assessment comes via a formative evaluation (FE) plan. The FE plan can contain such diverse data elements as the number of fliers distributed about the intervention, how often an intervention advocate speaks to participants, the content derived from team meeting notes, and themes extracted from focus groups. The diversity of such data elements can appear foreign to investigators trained in traditional health services research. The FE plan can also lead to confusion about what to measure, when, and how to integrate the various measures into a unified whole. Complicating matters is the fact that FE is often qualitative--such as interviews, focus groups, and meeting notes-which can make data difficult for investigators to interpret. Thus, there is a pressing need to provide clarity on how FE is to be used in implementation studies.
OBJECTIVE(S):
The specific aims of this Short Term Project are to: (1) Conduct a systematic review of VA funded implementation projects to classify the specific types of FE procedures employed; (2) Conduct in-depth telephone interviews with investigators of VA-funded implementation projects to establish which FE methods were used and which were considered most/least successful; and (3) Using the national experts gathered together under the umbrella of the Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion's Implementation Research Collaborative, develop a set of guidelines outlining best FE practices in VA implementation research.
METHODS:
This Short Term Project offers a 3-part approach toward specifying the best FE practices: first, a systematic review of the literature; second, qualitative interviews with VA implementation investigators; and third, a panel discussion of national experts, funded through a VA Implementation Collaborative Award. The panel discussion will outline FE guidelines based on the researchers' expertise, the systematic review, and the qualitative interviews.
FINDINGS/RESULTS:
None to date.
IMPACT:
This Short Term Project is designed to provide rapid results for developing the best approach toward the use of FE in VA implementation science. As such this proposal is responsive to the HSR&D priority topics for both "implementation and management" and "research methodology." The systematic review, the qualitative report, and the FE guidelines that will emerge from the project will have wide-spread applications within the VA implementation community, thereby supporting the HSR&D research mission. The study will also serve as needed pilot data for a future Merit Review award application designed to provide the theoretical and practical approaches toward FE use within the VA.
PUBLICATIONS:
None at this time.
DRA:
Health Services and Systems
DRE:
Quality of Care
Keywords:
Implementation
MeSH Terms:
none
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