Becker Sara J, DiClemente-Bosco Kira, Scott Kelli, Helseth Sarah A, Patel-Syed Zabin, Li Dennis H
Center for Dissemination and Implementation Science, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, 633 N St Clair Street, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA.
Implement Sci Commun. 2024 Feb 27;5(1):18. doi: 10.1186/s43058-024-00558-z.
Interest in learning dissemination and implementation (D&I) science is at an all-time high. As founding faculty and fellows of a new center focused on D&I science, we have found that non-specialist researchers and newcomers to D&I science often express confusion around the difference between the D and the I. Relatedly, they struggle to identify what their specific D&I projects target to impact public health within the amorphous "black box" that is the singular, loosely defined "research-to-practice gap." To improve conceptual clarity and enhance engagement with D&I science, we developed a graphic-the D&I Bridge-and an accompanying glossary of terms to use as a teaching and framing tool. The D&I Bridge depicts D&I science as bridging what we know from public health knowledge to what we do in public health practice with intention and equity, and it spans over four distinct, inter-related gaps: the public health supply gap, the public health demand gap, the methodological/scientific gap, and the expertise capacity gap. The public health supply gap is addressed by implementation strategies, whereas the public health demand gap is addressed by dissemination strategies. The methodological/scientific gap is addressed by producing generalizable knowledge about D&I, and the expertise capacity gap is addressed by developing the multi-disciplinary workforce needed to advance D&I. Initial practice feedback about the D&I Bridge has been positive, and this conceptualization of D&I science has helped inform our center's D&I training, D&I project consultations, and strategic planning. We believe the D&I Bridge provides a useful heuristic for helping non-specialists understand the differential scopes of various D&I science projects as well as specific gaps that may be addressed by D&I methods.
对学习传播与实施（D&I）科学的兴趣空前高涨。作为一个专注于D&I科学的新中心的创始教员和研究员，我们发现非专业研究人员以及D&I科学的新手常常对D和I之间的区别感到困惑。相关地，在这个模糊的“黑匣子”（即单一的、定义松散的“研究到实践的差距”）中，他们难以确定自己的具体D&I项目旨在影响公共卫生的目标。为了提高概念清晰度并增强对D&I科学的参与度，我们开发了一个图表——D&I桥梁——以及一个配套的术语表，用作教学和框架工具。D&I桥梁将D&I科学描绘为在我们从公共卫生知识中所了解的内容与我们在公共卫生实践中有意图且公平地所做的事情之间架起桥梁，它跨越了四个不同但相互关联的差距：公共卫生供应差距、公共卫生需求差距、方法学/科学差距以及专业能力差距。实施策略解决公共卫生供应差距，而传播策略解决公共卫生需求差距。通过产生关于D&I的可推广知识来解决方法学/科学差距，通过培养推进D&I所需的多学科劳动力来解决专业能力差距。关于D&I桥梁的初步实践反馈是积极的，并且这种D&I科学的概念化有助于为我们中心的D&I培训、D&I项目咨询和战略规划提供信息。我们相信D&I桥梁为帮助非专业人员理解各种D&I科学项目的不同范围以及D&I方法可能解决的具体差距提供了一个有用的启发式方法。
