Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Jun 3;17(2):e1-e7.
doi: 10.4102/phcfm.v17i2.4934.

Understanding implementation research

Robert Mash  1 , Juliet Nyasulu, Zelra Malan, Lisa Hirschhorn
Affiliations

Understanding implementation research

Robert Mash et al. Afr J Prim Health Care Fam Med. .

Abstract

Implementation research (IR) focuses on understanding and closing the gap between evidence-based interventions and practice. Key elements to evaluate include the design of the intervention itself, contextual barriers and enablers to implementation, the use of implementation strategies as well as the achievement of implementation outcomes. This article gives an overview of IR for doctoral-level researchers in the fields of family medicine and primary care. The consolidated framework for IR and socioecological model are considered for making sense of the contextual factors. A typology of implementation strategies is also described to make conceptualisation, reporting and sharing of findings easier. Standard implementation outcomes are described, such as coverage or reach, acceptability, adoption, appropriateness, feasibility, fidelity, costs and sustainability. The RE-AIM framework for implementation outcomes is described. Finally, different study designs are discussed, including hybrid effectiveness-implementation designs and approaches to reporting using the IR logic model.

Keywords: implementation; implementation outcomes; implementation research; implementation strategies; methodology; methods; primary care.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no financial or personal relationships that may have inappropriately influenced them in writing this article. R.M. declares that he is the Editor-in-Chief and Z.M. is a section editor of the African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine. The peer review process for this submission was handled independently, and the authors had no involvement in the editorial decision-making process for this article. The authors has no other competing interests to declare.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
The socioecological model.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Typology of implementation strategies.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
RE-AIM framework for evaluating implementation outcomes.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Template for the implementation research logic model.
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
Example of an implementation research logic model.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. National Science Board . Science and Engineering Indicators [homepage on the Internet]. Alexandria, VA; 2018. [Cited 2025 February 17]. Available from: https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/indicators/
    1. Singal A, Higgins P, Waljee A. A primer on effectiveness and efficacy trials. Clin Transl Gastroenterol. 2014;5(1):e45. 10.1038/ctg.2013.13 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Kruk M, Pate M. The Lancet Global Health Commission on high quality health systems 1 year on: Progress on a global imperative. Lancet Glob Health. 2020;8(1):e30–e32. 10.1016/S2214-109X(19)30485-1 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Peters DH, Adam T, Alonge O, Agyepong IA, Tran N. Implementation research: What it is and how to do it. BMJ. 2013;347:f6753. 10.1136/bmj.f6753 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Peters D, Tran N, Adam T. Implementation research in health: A practical guide. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2013.

LinkOut - more resources