An Implementation Science Laboratory as One Approach to Whole System Improvement: A Canadian Healthcare Perspective

Rachel Flynn, Stephanie P. Brooks, Denise Thomson, Gabrielle L. Zimmermann, David Johnson and Tracy Wasylak
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Rachel Flynn: Faculty of Nursing, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 1C9, Canada
Stephanie P. Brooks: Alberta SPOR SUPPORT Unit, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2C8, Canada
Denise Thomson: Alberta SPOR SUPPORT Unit, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2C8, Canada
Gabrielle L. Zimmermann: Alberta SPOR SUPPORT Unit, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2C8, Canada
David Johnson: Alberta SPOR SUPPORT Unit, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2C8, Canada
Tracy Wasylak: Alberta SPOR SUPPORT Unit, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2C8, Canada

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 23, 1-14

Abstract: Implementation science (IS) has emerged as an integral component for evidence-based whole system improvement. IS studies the best methods to promote the systematic uptake of evidence-based interventions into routine practice to improve the quality and effectiveness of health service delivery and patient care. IS laboratories (IS labs) are one mechanism to integrate implementation science as an evidence-based approach to whole system improvement and to support a learning health system. This paper aims to examine if IS labs are a suitable approach to whole system improvement. We retrospectively analyzed an existing IS lab (Alberta, Canada’s Implementation Science Collaborative) to assess the potential of IS labs to perform as a whole system approach to improvement and to identify key activities and considerations for designing IS labs specifically to support learning health systems. Results from our evaluation show the extent to which IS labs support learning health systems through enabling infrastructures for system-wide improvement and research.

Keywords: implementation science; implementation practice; whole system; improvement; learning health system (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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