Abstract
BackgroundInnovative approaches are needed to maximise the uptake and sustainment of evidence-based practices in a variety of health service contexts. This protocol describes a study that will seek to characterise the potential of one such approach, user-centred design (UCD), which is an emerging field that seeks to ground the design of an innovation in information about the people who will ultimately use that innovation. The use of UCD to enhance strategies for implementation of health services, although promising, requires a multidisciplinary perspective based on a firm understanding of how experts from each discipline perceives the interrelatedness and suitability of these strategies.MethodThis online study will use a combination of purposive and snowball sampling to recruit a sample of implementation experts (n = 30) and UCD experts (n = 30). These participants will each complete a concept mapping task, which is a mixed-method conceptualisation technique that will allow for identification of distinct clusters of implementation and/or UCD strategies. The research team has selected a set of implementation strategies and UCD strategies that each participant will sort and rate on dimensions of importance and feasibility. Data analyses will focus on describing the sample, identifying related clusters of strategies, and examining the convergences, divergences, and potential for collaboration between implementation science and UCD.DiscussionBy leading to a better understanding of the overlap between implementation science and UCD, grounded within established theoretical frameworks, this study holds promise for improving the impact and sustainability of evidence-based health services in community settings.
Highlights
Innovative approaches are needed to maximise the uptake and sustainment of evidence-based practices in a variety of health service contexts
Recognising that the Expert Recommendations for Implementing Change (ERIC) [7] compilation, while ground-breaking, speaks only sparingly to aspects of evidence-based practice (EBP) design that may improve uptake, we suggest that there is a need for additional strategies that attend directly to those issues of design
As a secondary aim, we intend to describe the characteristics of professionals who are interested in EBP implementation and user-centred design (UCD) as well as summarise recommendations by those experts regarding areas in which they require the most support for collaboration
Summary
This mixed-methods online study will explore the convergence, divergence and potential for interdisciplinary collaboration among implementation strategies and UCD strategies. Our research team plans to explore the potential of resources (e.g. mentored development programmes) and tools (e.g. shared online workspaces) – informed by the results of this study – to support collaboration around the design of EBPs and related implementation supports. Such resources and tools would complement the limited, but growing, set of implementation training initiatives that are currently available to the field [42]
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