Abstract
Background/Aims Implementation science (IS) is a priority topic in the renewal funding of the Cancer Research Network and encompasses a broad range of constructs and uses measures from a variety of disciplines. However, there has been little standardization of measures or agreement on definitions of constructs across different studies, fields, authors, or research groups. Moreover, many measures developed are not practical in real-world settings such as healthcare delivery systems. To further the field of IS, there is a need to both identify and evaluate IS measures on both their validity and practical relevance.
Methods We describe a collaborative, web-based activity using the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Grid-Enabled Measures (GEM) portal that uses a wiki platform to focus discussion and engage the research community to enhance the quality and harmonization of measures for IS health-related research and practice. We present the history, process, and data from 8 months of the GEM Dissemination & Implementation (D&I) Campaign on IS measurement.
Results The GEM D&I Campaign began in March 2012 and used a combination of expert opinion and crowd-sourcing approaches. To date, it has listed definitions for 45 constructs and summarized information for over 130 measures related to D&I. Measures identified and available include those in key domains such as organizational capacity, cost, reach/penetrance, stakeholder engagement, and adherence. Just under 60% of the D&I measures have at least one comment/rating. For 74 measures, the actual measure instrument is available for download. For those measure instruments available, they have been downloaded by users, on average, 93.8 times (range 2–1472).
Conclusions To date, this campaign has provided information about different IS measures in many key domains, their associated characteristics, and comments. The next step is to increase the numbers and sources rating these measures for quality and practicality. Participation in this process by researchers and practitioners from practice-based settings such as the HMORN sites is crucial and could support the identification of practice-relevant measures for IS including ones measuring practice change capacity. We invite HMORN researchers to join this virtual community and help advance the quality and harmonization of IS measures and constructs.
