Methods

Questions about the implementation of evidence-based intervention to treat and prevent HIV have risen to the top of the field’s scientific priorities. This commentary offers several considerations for researchers formulating implementation research questions based on several distinctive features of the field.

It has been suggested that implementation strategies should be selected and tailored to address the contextual needs of a given change effort; however, there is limited guidance as to how to do this. This article proposes four methods that could be used to match implementation strategies to identified barriers and facilitators.

Dissemination of evidence-based recommendations and knowledge brokering have emerged as potential strategies to achieve evidence implementation by influencing resource allocation decisions.

To move the implementation science field forward and to provide a practical tool to apply the knowledge in this field, this article describes a systematic process for planning or selecting implementation strategies: Implementation Mapping.

The aim of this article is to propose a taxonomy that distinguishes between different categories of theories, models and frameworks in implementation science, to facilitate appropriate selection and application of relevant approaches in implementation research and practice and to foster cross-disciplinary dialogue among implementation researchers.

The need for implementation science in health is now broadly recognized, and a working understanding of the qualities that make an implementation study “good” is needed more than ever before.