That Implementation Science Podcast

In which we interview Rani Elwy about her work at the intersection of implementation science and policy as she served as a Robert Wood Johnson health policy fellow in the US Senate focusing on menopause care. We discuss menopause policy, stigma, implementation and deimplementation challenges for menopause care, and what it was like to work as a policy fellow for Senator Patty Murray. Discussed on today's show: Bauer MS, Kirchner J. Implementation science: What is it and why should I care? Psychiatry Res. 2020 Jan;283:112376. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2019.04.025. Epub 2019 Apr 23. PMID: 31036287. Lane-Fall MB, Curran GM, Beidas RS. Scoping implementation science for the beginner: locating yourself on the "subway line" of translational research. BMC Med Res Methodol. 2019 Jun 28;19(1):133. doi: 10.1186/s12874-019-0783-z. PMID: 31253099; PMCID: PMC6599376.

We interview Leopoldo Cabassa and Dani Adams about implementation sciences' role in Psychedelic Assisted Therapy. We talk about the evidence for psychedelic assisted therapy, its implementation barriers and facilitators, the role of implementation science in moving psychedelic assited therapy from the clinic to the field, and we'll get them started on some excellent rants about implementation science. Discussed during the show: Trickett, E. J. (2011). From “water boiling in a Peruvian town” to “letting them die”: Culture, community intervention, and the metabolic balance between patience and zeal. American Journal of Community Psychology, 47, 58-68. Raghavan, R., Bright, C. L., & Shadoin, A. L. (2008). Toward a policy ecology of implementation of evidence-based practices in public mental health settings. Implementation Science, 3, 1-9. Palinkas, L. A., Allred, C. A., & Landsverk, J. A. (2005). Models of research-operational collaboration for behavioral health in space. Aviation, space, and environmental medicine, 76(6), B52-B60. https://socialwork.columbia.edu/directory/heidi-l-allen https://sites.wustl.edu/centerforpsychedelics/ @daniadams

We talk with the nicest person in Implementation Science, Byron Powell about how his dream of being a high school social worker and basketball coach was derailed by the irresistible siren song of implementation science, the meaning of interventions and implementation strategies, the utility of mechanism diagramming using approaches like logic models and causal pathway diagrams, and Kevin and I get Byron started on a rant about implementation science. Contact Byron @byron_powell on X Discussed during today's show: Geng, E. H., Nash, D., Phanuphak, N., Green, K., Solomon, S., Grimsrud, A., Sohn, A. H., Mayer, K. H., Bärnighausen, T., & Bekker, L. G. (2022). The question of the question: impactful implementation science to address the HIV epidemic. Journal of the International AIDS Society, 25(4), e25898. https://doi.org/10.1002/jia2.25898 Powell, B.J., Waltz, T.J., Chinman, M.J. et al. A refined compilation of implementation strategies: results from the Expert Recommendations for Implementing Change (ERIC) project. Implementation Sci 10, 21 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13012-015-0209-1 Pullmann, M. D., Dorsey, S., Duong, M. T., Lyon, A. R., Muse, I., Corbin, C. M., Davis, C. J., Thorp, K., Sweeney, M., Lewis, C. C., & Powell, B. J. (2022). Expect the Unexpected: A Qualitative Study of the Ripple Effects of Children's Mental Health Services Implementation Efforts. Implementation research and practice, 3, 26334895221120797. https://doi.org/10.1177/26334895221120797 Smith, J. D., Li, D. H., Merle, J. L., Keiser, B., Mustanski, B., & Benbow, N. D. (2024). Adjunctive interventions: change methods directed at recipients that support uptake and use of health innovations. Implementation science : IS, 19(1), 10. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13012-024-01345-z

Today, we’ll have a conversation with a collection of some of the greatest minds in implementation science about the operationalization of the two most important constructs in Implementation Science: interventions and implementation strategies. Sounds easy, right? In the 20-odd years that Implementation Science has been around, we’ve figured this out, haven’t we? Not really. Today’s show is a recording from an informal discussion of council of experts including Aaron Lyon, Bryan Weiner, Cara Lewis, Pedja Klasnja, Byron Powell, Shannon Dorsey, Rosemary Meza, and Kevin King. Referenced during today's show: Curran, G.M. Implementation science made too simple: a teaching tool. Implement Sci Commun 1, 27 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s43058-020-00001-z Eldh, A.C., Almost, J., DeCorby-Watson, K. et al. Clinical interventions, implementation interventions, and the potential greyness in between -a discussion paper. BMC Health Serv Res 17, 16 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-016-1958-5

We talk with Stephen Schueller about digital mental health apps, the challenges and benefits of doing implementation science work in a digital landscape, the implementation factors worthy of consideration when conducting digital mental health research, and chocolate and broccoli but not chocolate covered broccoli. Best of all, Kevin and I get Stephen started on an amazing rant about Johnathan Haidt’s book, the Anxious Generation. Mentioned: Proctor, E., Ramsey, A. T., Saldana, L., Maddox, T. M., Chambers, D. A., & Brownson, R. C. (2022). FAST: a framework to assess speed of translation of health innovations to practice and policy. Global Implementation Research and Applications, 2(2), 107-119. Curran, G. M. (2020). Implementation science made too simple: a teaching tool. Implementation Science Communications, 1, 1-3. Curran, P. G., & Hauser, K. A. (2019). I’m paid biweekly, just not by leprechauns: Evaluating valid-but-incorrect response rates to attention check items. Journal of Research in Personality, 82, 103849.

On this episode we talk with everyone's favorite mentor, Bryan Weiner, about the history of implementation science, implementation science measurement, the Jingle Jangle Fallacy, and we quiz him on how to be a good mentor. Resources discussed during this episode include: Weiner, B. J., Lewis, C. C., Stanick, C., Powell, B. J., Dorsey, C. N., Clary, A. S., Boynton, M. H., & Halko, H. (2017). Psychometric assessment of three newly developed implementation outcome measures. Implementation science : IS, 12(1), 108. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13012-017-0635-3 Proctor, E., Silmere, H., Raghavan, R., Hovmand, P., Aarons, G., Bunger, A., Griffey, R., & Hensley, M. (2011). Outcomes for implementation research: conceptual distinctions, measurement challenges, and research agenda. Administration and policy in mental health, 38(2), 65–76. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-010-0319-7 Lane-Fall, M.B., Curran, G.M. & Beidas, R.S. Scoping implementation science for the beginner: locating yourself on the “subway line” of translational research. BMC Med Res Methodol 19, 133 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12874-019-0783-z Practical Implementation Science: Moving Evidence Into Action Edited by: Weiner, Bryan J., PhD | Lewis, Cara C., PhD | Sherr, Kenneth, PhD https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Implementation-Science-Moving-Evidence/dp/0826186920

On this show co-host Kevin King will interview… Mike! Apologies in advance to anyone who is tired of hearing us talk about our work—honestly your time might be better spent watching old reruns of Webster. We talk about equity in education, the unintended consequences of implementation strategies, the ethics and obligations of conducting community based research, and Kevin quizzes Mike on his knowledge of rock climbing. Discussed during today's show: Ripple effects website: https://depts.washington.edu/ripple-effects/ Pullmann, M. D., Dorsey, S., Duong, M. T., Lyon, A. R., Muse, I., Corbin, C. M., Davis, C. J., Thorp, K., Sweeney, M., Lewis, C. C., & Powell, B. J. (2022). Expect the Unexpected: A Qualitative Study of the Ripple Effects of Children's Mental Health Services Implementation Efforts. Implementation research and practice, 3, 26334895221120797. https://doi.org/10.1177/26334895221120797 My favorite paper that has zero attention: Pullmann M. D. (2011). Effects of out-of-home mental health treatment on probability of criminal charge during the transition to adulthood. The American journal of orthopsychiatry, 81(3), 410–419. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1939-0025.2011.01109.x My least favorite paper with lots of attention: Pullmann, M. D., VanHooser, S., Hoffman, C., & Heflinger, C. A. (2010). Barriers to and supports of family participation in a rural system of care for children with serious emotional problems. Community mental health journal, 46(3), 211–220. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-009-9208-5

Lisa Saldana joins the show to talk about the importance of measuring and planning implementation stages and how they can help improve whether the implementation of your program will be sustained; the relative importance of engagement, readiness planning, and how good pre-implementation planning can make programs robust to challenges; the overlap between getting an implementation ready to do and behavior change at the person level and how it parallels behavior change at the organizational level; the importance of research networks, learning across multiple fields, and maintaining engagement with both your end users and your fellow scientists; and, we quiz Lisa on her knowledge of Eugene, Oregon. Lisa’s work is some of the most exciting, important, and interesting research in implementation science today. Alley, Z. M., Chapman, J. E., Schaper, H., & Saldana, L. (2023). The relative value of Pre-Implementation stages for successful implementation of evidence-informed programs. Implementation Science, 18(1), 1-13. Saldana, L., Chamberlain, P., Wang, W., & Hendricks Brown, C. (2012). Predicting program start-up using the stages of implementation measure. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, 39, 419-425. Chamberlain, P., Brown, C. H., & Saldana, L. (2011). Observational measure of implementation progress in community based settings: the stages of implementation completion (SIC). Implementation Science, 6(1), 1-8. Saldana, L., Chamberlain, P., Bradford, W. D., Campbell, M., & Landsverk, J. (2014). The cost of implementing new strategies (COINS): a method for mapping implementation resources using the stages of implementation completion. Children and youth services review, 39, 177-182. Beidas, R. S., Saldana, L., & Shelton, R. C. (2023). Testing psychosocial interventions in the contexts they are meant to be delivered. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. NCI Implementation Primer: https://cancercontrol.cancer.gov/sites/default/files/2020-07/NCI-ISaaG-Workbook.pdf Practical IS Textbook from Brian Weiner: https://www.springerpub.com/practical-implementation-science-9780826186928.html Wong, D.R., Schaper, H. & Saldana, L. Rates of sustainment in the Universal Stages of Implementation Completion. Implement Sci Commun 3, 2 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s43058-021-00250-6 Weisz, J. R., Jensen, A. L., & McLeod, B. D. (2005). Development and Dissemination of Child and Adolescent Psychotherapies: Milestones, Methods, and a New Deployment-Focused Model.

Today we talk with Danny Almirall from the University of Michigan's d3C center. We talk about how learning about prime numbers set Danny up for a lifetime of teaching people about math, statistics, and methods, the difference between efficacy, effectiveness, and implementation studies, what is a SMART trial, and how do SMART trials inform adaptive interventions, what are MAISYs, and we learn a little bit about Salsa the dance and just a tiny bit about Salsa the food. And We mention the following papers: Kevin’s paper on implementation science and quantitative methods King, K. M., Pullmann, M. D., Lyon, A. R., Dorsey, S., & Lewis, C. C. (2019). Using implementation science to close the gap between the optimal and typical practice of quantitative methods in clinical science. Journal of abnormal psychology, 128(6), 547. (http://depts.washington.edu/risemh/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/King-et-al-2019-JAbnormal-1.pdf) SMART designs: Almirall, D., Nahum-Shani, I., Sherwood, N. E., & Murphy, S. A. (2014). Introduction to SMART designs for the development of adaptive interventions: with application to weight loss research. Translational behavioral medicine, 4(3), 260–274. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13142-014-0265-0 Beidas premortem paper: Beidas, R. S., Dorsey, S., Lewis, C. C., Lyon, A. R., Powell, B. J., Purtle, J., ... & Lane-Fall, M. B. (2022). Promises and pitfalls in implementation science from the perspective of US-based researchers: learning from a pre-mortem. Implementation Science, 17(1), 55. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9375077/) Danny recommends we check out: Brian Weiner (https://globalhealth.washington.edu/faculty/bryan-weiner) Susan Murphy, PhD. (http://people.seas.harvard.edu/~samurphy/ ) Danny’s Website: https://d3c.isr.umich.edu/, and https://twitter.com/d3_center

Pedja Klasnja swings by the show to discuss his viewpoints as a methodologist on the outskirts of Implementation Science, from the standpoint of Human-Computer Interaction and Health Informatics. At some point in the show Kevin falls in love with Pedja, but we’re not sure if Pedja noticed.

Mike and Kevin discuss the paper "Improving the feasibility of fidelity measurement for community-based quality assurance". Can measuring fidelity be cheap, fast, and good? Referenced in today's episode: Chapman, J. E., Alley, Z. M., & Schoenwald, S. K. (2022). Improving the feasibility of fidelity measurement for community-based quality assurance: Partial- versus full-session observations of supervisor adherence and competence. Implementation Research and Practice, 3. https://doi.org/10.1177/26334895221135263

We talk with Cara Lewis about implementation mechanisms and boats, and discover her hidden inability to play the quiz.