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How is implementation research applied to advance health in low-income and middle-income countries?

This paper examines the characteristics of implementation research (IR) efforts in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) by describing how key IR principles and concepts have been used in published health research in LMICs between 1998 and 2016, with focus on how to better apply these princ...

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Autores principales: Alonge, Olakunle, Rodriguez, Daniela Cristina, Brandes, Neal, Geng, Elvin, Reveiz, Ludovic, Peters, David H
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BMJ Publishing Group 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6441291/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30997169
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2018-001257
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author Alonge, Olakunle
Rodriguez, Daniela Cristina
Brandes, Neal
Geng, Elvin
Reveiz, Ludovic
Peters, David H
author_facet Alonge, Olakunle
Rodriguez, Daniela Cristina
Brandes, Neal
Geng, Elvin
Reveiz, Ludovic
Peters, David H
author_sort Alonge, Olakunle
collection PubMed
description This paper examines the characteristics of implementation research (IR) efforts in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) by describing how key IR principles and concepts have been used in published health research in LMICs between 1998 and 2016, with focus on how to better apply these principles and concepts to support large-scale impact of health interventions in LMICs. There is a stark discrepancy between principles of IR and what has been published. Most IR studies have been conducted under conditions where the researchers have considerable influence over implementation and with extra resources, rather than in ‘real world’ conditions. IR researchers tend to focus on research questions that test a proof of concept, such as whether a new intervention is feasible or can improve implementation. They also tend to use traditional fixed research designs, yet the usual conditions for managing programmes demand continuous learning and change. More IR in LMICs should be conducted under usual management conditions, employ pragmatic research paradigm and address critical implementation issues such as scale-up and sustainability of evidence-informed interventions. This paper describes some positive examples that address these concerns and identifies how better reporting of IR studies in LMICs would include more complete descriptions of strategies, contexts, concepts, methods and outcomes of IR activities. This will help practitioners, policy-makers and other researchers to better learn how to implement large-scale change in their own settings.
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spelling pubmed-64412912019-04-17 How is implementation research applied to advance health in low-income and middle-income countries? Alonge, Olakunle Rodriguez, Daniela Cristina Brandes, Neal Geng, Elvin Reveiz, Ludovic Peters, David H BMJ Glob Health Practice This paper examines the characteristics of implementation research (IR) efforts in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) by describing how key IR principles and concepts have been used in published health research in LMICs between 1998 and 2016, with focus on how to better apply these principles and concepts to support large-scale impact of health interventions in LMICs. There is a stark discrepancy between principles of IR and what has been published. Most IR studies have been conducted under conditions where the researchers have considerable influence over implementation and with extra resources, rather than in ‘real world’ conditions. IR researchers tend to focus on research questions that test a proof of concept, such as whether a new intervention is feasible or can improve implementation. They also tend to use traditional fixed research designs, yet the usual conditions for managing programmes demand continuous learning and change. More IR in LMICs should be conducted under usual management conditions, employ pragmatic research paradigm and address critical implementation issues such as scale-up and sustainability of evidence-informed interventions. This paper describes some positive examples that address these concerns and identifies how better reporting of IR studies in LMICs would include more complete descriptions of strategies, contexts, concepts, methods and outcomes of IR activities. This will help practitioners, policy-makers and other researchers to better learn how to implement large-scale change in their own settings. BMJ Publishing Group 2019-03-07 /pmc/articles/PMC6441291/ /pubmed/30997169 http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2018-001257 Text en © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2019. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ. This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.
spellingShingle Practice
Alonge, Olakunle
Rodriguez, Daniela Cristina
Brandes, Neal
Geng, Elvin
Reveiz, Ludovic
Peters, David H
How is implementation research applied to advance health in low-income and middle-income countries?
title How is implementation research applied to advance health in low-income and middle-income countries?
title_full How is implementation research applied to advance health in low-income and middle-income countries?
title_fullStr How is implementation research applied to advance health in low-income and middle-income countries?
title_full_unstemmed How is implementation research applied to advance health in low-income and middle-income countries?
title_short How is implementation research applied to advance health in low-income and middle-income countries?
title_sort how is implementation research applied to advance health in low-income and middle-income countries?
topic Practice
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6441291/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30997169
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2018-001257
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