This blog post submitted by: Leah Zullig, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Duke General Internal Medicine
This year I attended AcademyHealth’s Annual Conference on the Science of Dissemination and Implementation (D&I). The conference provides a unique forum for health services researchers, implementation scientists, funders, and clinicians in the field to come together and share innovative D&I research. The meeting was held in the Woodley Park neighborhood of Washington, DC during two blustery days in December. DGIM was very well represented. George Jackson, PhD, Nina Sperber, PhD, Virginia Wang, PhD, and I presented our research. From the wider Duke community, we were joined by Ryanne Wu, MD, a colleague from Duke-NUS medical school, who made the 30+ hour trek from Singapore to participate in the conference. Gary Bennett, PhD, also presented during the plenary closing session on novel directions in dissemination research.
As I first time attendee, one of the things that struck me most was how the agenda was designed to appeal to both experienced D&I researchers and those who are newer to the field. There was a nice combination of opportunities for formal presentations and poster sessions, as well as expert panels and structured lunch discussions that enabled interactive sharing of ideas. The program provided opportunities to hear perspectives not only from D&I researchers, but also from funders including PCORI, AHRQ, QUERI, ACS, and others. As always, the best part of the conference was seeing colleagues from other parts of the US.
"The agenda was designed to appeal to both experienced D&I researchers and those who are newer to the field."
Key themes from the conference included: balancing fit and fidelity; the importance of context and engaging a wide array of partners and stakeholders; and planning for sustainability as early in the design process as possible. When considering what interventions will work in the “real world” the importance of learning on both sides – not only for researchers, but also for system users and community partners – was emphasized. Another theme was the tension between ensuring rigorous research methods and meeting stakeholders’ potential need for timely solutions and feedback. Targeted, rapid, cheap, beta testing cycles were highlighted as a potential strategy to meet the needs of both camps.
D&I is a relatively new field and the enthusiasm for translational research was palpable. It was great to have an opportunity to take time out of daily routine to learn from and interact with other D&I researchers. If you’re new to D&I, or are simply interested in learning more about what the field of implementation science is all about, consider attending the AcademyHealth Conference on the Science of Dissemination and Implementation next year. You’ll be glad that you did.