Achieving the multi-level professional and organizational change necessary for implementation of evidence-based healthcare services requires leveraging multiple forms of power and relationships. Yet relatively little research within implementation science has explored the explicit or implicit role of power structures in determining the shape and success of implementation planning, initiatives, and evaluation. These power structures include those underlying the landscape of what is deemed “evidence,” as well as the power structures inherent in social and organizational relationships, including dynamics around gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. Research is also lacking on the role of relationships themselves in implementation, as well as whether specific features of relationships or relationship networks are associated with differential success in implementation and sustainment.
This research topic will explore examples of implementation initiatives from around the world and how they have been impacted by local, national, and global power structures and/or relationships. Topics for articles of interest include, but are not limited to:
- Theoretical and review articles advancing the literature on power, relationships, and/or their interdependence in implementation.
- Methodological papers offering examples of pragmatic strategies for investigation of power and relationships within broader implementation research and evaluation.
- Original research articles examining power and relationships as contextual factors, implementation determinants, potential implementation strategies, and/or mechanisms for impact in small- or large-scale implementation efforts within healthcare.
Achieving the multi-level professional and organizational change necessary for implementation of evidence-based healthcare services requires leveraging multiple forms of power and relationships. Yet relatively little research within implementation science has explored the explicit or implicit role of power structures in determining the shape and success of implementation planning, initiatives, and evaluation. These power structures include those underlying the landscape of what is deemed “evidence,” as well as the power structures inherent in social and organizational relationships, including dynamics around gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. Research is also lacking on the role of relationships themselves in implementation, as well as whether specific features of relationships or relationship networks are associated with differential success in implementation and sustainment.
This research topic will explore examples of implementation initiatives from around the world and how they have been impacted by local, national, and global power structures and/or relationships. Topics for articles of interest include, but are not limited to:
- Theoretical and review articles advancing the literature on power, relationships, and/or their interdependence in implementation.
- Methodological papers offering examples of pragmatic strategies for investigation of power and relationships within broader implementation research and evaluation.
- Original research articles examining power and relationships as contextual factors, implementation determinants, potential implementation strategies, and/or mechanisms for impact in small- or large-scale implementation efforts within healthcare.
