Strategies to promote evidence use for health programme improvement: learning from the experiences of embedded implementation research teams in Latin America and the Caribbean

New approaches in implementation research that bring together health system decision-makers alongside researchers to collaboratively design, produce and apply research evidence are gaining traction. Embedded implementation research (EIR) approaches led by decision-maker principal investigators (DM PIs) appear promising in this regard. Our aim is to describe the strategies study teams employ in the post-research phase of EIR to promote evidence-informed programme or policy improvement. We conducted a prospective, comparative case study of an EIR initiative in Bolivia, Colombia and Dominican Republic. Focusing on three processes (communication/dissemination, stakeholder engagement with evidence, integrating evidence in decision-making) and the main outcome (enacting improvements), we used thematic analysis to identify associated strategies and enabling or hindering factors. Across cases, we observed diverse strategies, shaped substantially by whether the DM PI was positioned to lead the response to study findings within their sphere of work. We found two primary change pathways: (1) DM PIs implement remedial measures directly, and (2) DM PIs seek to influence other stakeholders to respond to study findings.

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Varallyay, N.I., Kennedy, C., Bennett, S.C. et al. Strategies to promote evidence use for health programme improvement: learning from the experiences of embedded implementation research teams in Latin America and the Caribbean. Health Res Policy Sys 20, 38 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-022-00834-1