Ready, Set, Change! Development and usability testing of an online readiness for change decision support tool for healthcare organizations

Dissemination and implementation research for oral and craniofacial health: Background, a review of literature and future directions

Oral conditions are highly prevalent globally and have profound consequence on individuals and communities. Clinical (e.g. dental treatments, behavioural counselling) and non-clinical (e.g. community-based programming, water fluoridation, oral health policy) evidence-based interventions have been identified, recommended and applied at the clinic, community and policy levels. Still, the burden of oral conditions persists, with inequitable distribution across populations. A major driver of this lack of progress is poor translation of research findings, which results in an evidence-to-practice gap. Dissemination and implementation science (DIS) has emerged to address this gap. A relatively new field, application of DIS represents an important avenue for achieving good dental, oral and craniofacial health for all. The goal of this introductory article is to provide a brief background on DIS relevant to researchers in dentistry and oral health. The problem of knowledge translation, basic concepts and terminology in DIS, and approaches to doing dissemination and implementation research-including implementation strategies, key outcomes, and implementation theories, models and frameworks-are discussed. Additionally, the article reviews literature applying DIS to dentistry and oral health. Results of published studies and their implications for the field are presented. Drawing on the literature review and contemporary thinking in DIS, current gaps, opportunities and future directions are discussed. Resources for understanding and applying DIS are provided throughout. This article serves as a primer on DIS for dental and oral health researchers of all types working across a range of contexts; it also serves as a call to action for increased application of DIS to address the burden of oral conditions globally.

Development of a tool to identify barriers and enablers to practice innovation in midwifery: A participatory action research study

INTRODUCTION

Transferring research evidence into midwifery practice is fraught with challenges and obstacles. Implementation tools can streamline the process and are most effective when they are discipline-specific; however, there are currently no midwifery specific implementation tools. The aim of this study was to develop a midwifery specific tool to identify barriers and enablers to evidence-informed practice change within the clinical setting.

METHODS

Participatory action research methodology was employed to ensure potential end-users contributed to content and format of the tool. Purposeful sampling ensured participants were selected from a range of midwifery practice settings in Western Australia and the United Kingdom. Data were collected through stakeholder advisory groups (SAGs) and online surveys.

RESULTS

Ten midwives participated in this project. Consultation occurred through face-to-face SAG meetings and online surveys until consensus was reached among participants about the content, format, and functionality of the end product which we called the 'Midwifery Tool for Change' (MT4C).

CONCLUSIONS

To our knowledge, the MT4C is the first readiness for change context assessment tool specific to midwifery practice settings. Evaluation of the MT4C in real-world practice change implementation initiatives will enable further refinement of the tool.

Scale-Up Study Protocol of the Implementation of a Mobile Health SBIRT Approach for Alcohol Use Reduction in Mozambique

BACKGROUND

Hazardous drinking imposes a major public health burden worldwide, especially in low-income countries such as Mozambique. Implementation of the Screening, Brief Intervention, Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) approach to address problem drinking is recommended. However, evidence regarding the best strategies to implement SBIRT at scale is needed.

METHODS

Guided by the Reach Effectiveness Adoption Implementation Maintenance model, the authors will conduct a 2-year, cluster-randomized, hybrid type-2 implementation-effectiveness trial in 12 districts in Mozambique evaluating implementation, clinical effectiveness, outcomes, and cost. Eight districts will be randomly assigned to a mobile application-based health SBIRT condition and four to SBIRT-Conventional Training and Supervision. Interventions will be delivered by clinic-based community health workers. The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research will guide the authors' mixed-methods assessments throughout the study.

RESULTS

The study arm showing better cost-effectiveness will be scaled up in the other arms' districts. During this 12-month scale-up phase, Ministry of Health personnel will be charged with providing training, clinical activities, and supervision in all 12 districts without research team support. The SBIRT scale-up phase is critical to identify facilitators and barriers for tracking internal and external factors in clinics that continue using the superior arm and those that switch to it.

NEXT STEPS

In a multistep process with stakeholders from multiple sectors, outcomes and lessons learned from this study will inform the development of an implementation tool kit to guide SBIRT scale-up of community services addressing hazardous drinking in other low- and middle-income countries and low-resource settings in high-income countries.

Partnerships in Research to Implement and Disseminate Sustainable and Scalable Evidence-Based Practices (PRIDE) in Mozambique

BACKGROUND

Mental health conditions impose a major burden worldwide, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where health specialists are scarce. A challenge to closing LMICs' mental health treatment gap is determining the most cost-effective task-shifting pathway for delivering mental health services using evidence-based interventions (EBIs). This article discusses the protocol for the first study implementing comprehensive mental health services in LMICs.

METHODS

In partnership with the Mozambican Ministry of Health, this cluster-randomized, hybrid implementation effectiveness type-2 trial will evaluate implementation, patient, and service outcomes of three task-shifting delivery pathways in 20 Mozambican districts (population 4.7 million). In pathway 1 (usual care), community health workers (CHWs) and primary care providers (PCPs) refer patients to district-level mental health clinics. In pathway 2 (screen, refer, and treat), CHWs screen and refer patients to PCPs for behavioral and pharmacological EBIs in community clinics. In pathway 3 (community mental health stepped care), CHWs screen patients and deliver behavioral EBIs in the community and refer medication management cases to PCPs in clinics. Mixed-methods process evaluation will be used to examine factors affecting pathway implementation, adoption, and sustainability. Clinical activities will occur without research team support. Ministry of Health personnel will coordinate training and supervision.

RESULTS

The most cost-effective pathway will be scaled up in all districts for 12 months.

NEXT STEPS

This novel study integrating comprehensive mental health services into primary care will inform a toolkit to help the Mozambican Ministry of Health scale up the most cost-effective pathway for mental health services and can be a template for other LMICs.

Enhancing organizational readiness for implementation: constructing a typology of readiness-development strategies using a modified Delphi process

BACKGROUND

Knowledge about the development of organizational readiness for implementation (ORI) is limited. ORI, referred to as the willingness and capacity of all relevant stakeholders to change practice, is critical for increasing the adoption rate of evidence-based practices and improving implementation outcomes. However, no methodology currently guides ORI's enhancement or addresses differences in readiness needs across an organization. This study used the transtheoretical model (TTM) as a framework for classifying a well-established compilation of implementation strategies into three readiness stages: pre-contemplation, contemplation, and preparation.

METHODS

A modified Delphi method was used to establish consensus among a panel of purposefully selected research and field implementation experts. The Delphi process involved three rounds of online questionnaires. The third round also included a live video discussion to clarify definitions in an effort to increase consensus among experts.

RESULTS

Of the 73 strategies reviewed, the experts identified 75% (n = 55) as relevant for pre-implementation and reached a high-level agreement on the assignment of 7% (n = 5) of the strategies to the pre-contemplation stage (ORI-1), 25% (n = 18) to the contemplation stage (ORI-2), and 52% (n = 38) to the preparation stage (ORI-3). Several strategies were identified as relevant to more than one stage.

CONCLUSIONS

Participating experts were able to reach high-level agreement on the relevance of specific sets of implementation strategies to each of the three ORI stages. The lowest number of strategies was assigned to ORI-1 and the highest number to ORI-3. Given the overlap of strategies across ORI stages, there is a need to better understand the specific utilization of such strategies at different stages. Future studies are needed to empirically evaluate the relevance and applicability of this expert-informed typology based on implementers' experiences in the field.

Development of the 'REadiness SElf-assessment (RESEA) guide' to assist low and middle-income countries with establishing safe and sustainable radiotherapy services: a pragmatic sequential mixed qualitative methods project

BACKGROUND

Improving access to radiotherapy services in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) is challenging. Many LMICs' radiotherapy initiatives fail because of multi-faceted barriers leading to significant wastage of scarce resources. Supporting LMICs to self-assess their readiness for establishing radiotherapy services will help to improve cancer outcomes by ensuring safe, effective and sustainable evidenced-based cancer care. The aim of the study was to develop practical guidance for LMICs on self-assessing their readiness to establish safe and sustainable radiotherapy services.

METHODS

The Access to Radiotherapy for Cancer treatment (ARC) Project was a pragmatic sequential mixed qualitative methods design underpinned by the World Health Organisation's 'Innovative Care for Chronic Conditions Framework' and 'Health System Building Blocks Framework for Action' conceptual frameworks. This paper reports on the process of overall data integration and meta-inference from previously published components comprising a systematic review and two-part qualitative study (semi-structured interviews and a participant validation process). The meta-inferences enabled a series of radiotherapy readiness self-assessment requirements to be generated, formalised as a REadiness SElf-Assessment (RESEA) Guide' for use by LMICs.

FINDINGS

The meta-inferences identified a large number of factors that acted as facilitators and/or barriers, depending on the situation, which include: awareness and advocacy; political leadership; epidemiological data; financial resources; basic physical infrastructure; radiation safety legislative and regulatory framework; project management; and radiotherapy workforce training and education. 'Commitment', 'cooperation', 'capacity' and 'catalyst' were identified as the key domains enabling development of radiotherapy services. Across these four domains, the RESEA Guide included 37 requirements and 120 readiness questions that LMICs need to consider and answer as part of establishing a new radiotherapy service.

CONCLUSIONS

The RESEA Guide provides a new resource for LMICs to self-assess their capacity to establish safe and sustainable radiotherapy services. Future evaluation of the acceptability and feasibility of the RESEA Guide is needed to inform its validity. Further work, including field study, is needed to inform further refinements. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses are required to reduce the data set and test the fit of the four-factor structure (commitment, cooperation, capacity and catalyst) found in the current study.

Identifying and selecting implementation theories, models and frameworks: a qualitative study to inform the development of a decision support tool

Background

Implementation theories, models and frameworks offer guidance when implementing and sustaining healthcare evidence-based interventions. However, selection can be challenging given the myriad of potential options. We propose to inform a decision support tool to facilitate the appropriate selection of an implementation theory, model or framework in practice. To inform tool development, this study aimed to explore barriers and facilitators to identifying and selecting implementation theories, models and frameworks in research and practice, as well as end-user preferences for features and functions of the proposed tool.

Methods

We used an interpretive descriptive approach to conduct semi-structured interviews with implementation researchers and practitioners in Canada, the United States and Australia. Audio recordings were transcribed verbatim. Data were inductively coded by a single investigator with a subset of 20% coded independently by a second investigator and analyzed using thematic analysis.

Results

Twenty-four individuals participated in the study. Categories of barriers/facilitators, to inform tool development, included characteristics of the individual or team conducting implementation and characteristics of the implementation theory, model or framework. Major barriers to selection included inconsistent terminology, poor fit with the implementation context and limited knowledge about and training in existing theories, models and frameworks. Major facilitators to selection included the importance of clear and concise language and evidence that the theory, model or framework was applied in a relevant health setting or context. Participants were enthusiastic about the development of a decision support tool that is user-friendly, accessible and practical. Preferences for tool features included key questions about the implementation intervention or project (e.g., purpose, stage of implementation, intended target for change) and a comprehensive list of relevant theories, models and frameworks to choose from along with a glossary of terms and the contexts in which they were applied.

Conclusions

An easy to use decision support tool that addresses key barriers to selecting an implementation theory, model or framework in practice may be beneficial to individuals who facilitate implementation practice activities. Findings on end-user preferences for tool features and functions will inform tool development and design through a user-centered approach.

Developing a readiness self-assessment tool for low- and middle-income countries establishing new radiotherapy services: A participant validation study

PURPOSE

Assessing low-and middle-income countries' (LMICs') readiness to establish new radiotherapy services is an important but empirically understudied concept. The purpose of this study is to develop and confirm a core set of readiness requirements and criteria that can be used to gauge LMICs preparedness to establish radiotherapy services.

METHODS

Based on a systematic review and semi-structured expert interviews, a pool of requirements and criteria were generated. To confirm or disconfirm these items, we adopted a synthesised member checking process, also known as participant validation. A purposive sampling strategy was used to recruit radiotherapy experts. Items were sent via email. Each item was reviewed by participants. Qualitative comments were analysed thematically.

FINDINGS

Seven of the 17 experts who participated in an earlier semi-structured interview contributed to this participant validation study. The final version of the readiness self-assessment tool for LMICs establishing new radiotherapy services contains 37 requirements mapped into four readiness domains, grouped under the following categories: commitment; cooperation; capacity; and catalyst. Among 23 criteria for commitment domain, participants reviewed 22 as relevant for inclusion. The cooperation requirements considered important, included: "strategic planning team", "stakeholder involvement" and a "technical assistance plan". Capacity requirements, which were endorsed included: "responsible project manager"; "availability of radiotherapy expertise"; and "training for initial core staff". Participants' feedbacks supported the inclusion of all the requirements and criteria related to catalyst.

CONCLUSION

The readiness self-assessment tool is a promising planning and evaluation tool for use by stakeholders interested in expanding access to radiotherapy services in LMICs.

Unpacking organizational readiness for change: an updated systematic review and content analysis of assessments

BACKGROUND

Organizational readiness assessments have a history of being developed as important support tools for successful implementation. However, it remains unclear how best to operationalize readiness across varied projects or settings. We conducted a synthesis and content analysis of published readiness instruments to compare how investigators have operationalized the concept of organizational readiness for change.

METHODS

We identified readiness assessments using a systematic review and update search. We mapped individual assessment items to the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR), which identifies five domains affecting implementation (outer setting, inner setting, intervention characteristics, characteristics of individuals, and implementation process) and multiple constructs within each domain.

RESULTS

Of 1370 survey items, 897 (68%) mapped to the CFIR domain of inner setting, most commonly related to constructs of readiness for implementation (n = 220); networks and communication (n = 207); implementation climate (n = 204); structural characteristics (n = 139); and culture (n = 93). Two hundred forty-two items (18%) mapped to characteristics of individuals (mainly other personal attributes [n = 157] and self-efficacy [n = 52]); 80 (6%) mapped to outer setting; 51 (4%) mapped to implementation process; 40 (3%) mapped to intervention characteristics; and 60 (4%) did not map to CFIR constructs. Instruments were typically tailored to specific interventions or contexts.

DISCUSSION

Available readiness instruments predominantly focus on contextual factors within the organization and characteristics of individuals, but the specificity of most assessment items suggests a need to tailor items to the specific scenario in which an assessment is fielded. Readiness assessments must bridge the gap between measuring a theoretical construct and factors of importance to a particular implementation.

Scaling-up implementation in community hospitals: a multisite interrupted time series design of the Mobilization of Vulnerable Elders (MOVE) program in Alberta

Background

As the population ages, older hospitalized patients are at increased risk for hospital-acquired morbidity. The Mobilization of Vulnerable Elders (MOVE) program is an evidence-informed early mobilization intervention that was previously evaluated in Ontario, Canada. The program was effective at improving mobilization rates and decreasing length of stay in academic hospitals. The aim of this study was to scale-up the program and conduct a replication study evaluating the impact of the evidence-informed mobilization intervention on various units in community hospitals within a different Canadian province.

Methods

The MOVE program was tailored to the local context at four community hospitals in Alberta, Canada. The study population was patients aged 65 years and older who were admitted to medicine, surgery, rehabilitation and intensive care units between July 2015 and July 2016. The primary outcome was patient mobilization measured by conducting visual audits twice a week, three times a day. The secondary outcomes included hospital length of stay obtained from hospital administrative data, and perceptions of the intervention assessed through a qualitative assessment. Using an interrupted time series design, the intervention was evaluated over three time periods (pre-intervention, during, and post-intervention).

Results

A total of 3601 patients [mean age 80.1 years (SD = 8.4 years)] were included in the overall analysis. There was a significant increase in mobilization at the end of the intervention period compared to pre-intervention, with 6% more patients out of bed (95% confidence interval (CI) 1, 11; p-value = 0.0173). A decreasing trend in median length of stay was observed, where patients on average stayed an estimated 3.59 fewer days (95%CI -15.06, 7.88) during the intervention compared to pre-intervention period.

Conclusions

MOVE is a low-cost, effective and adaptable intervention that improves mobilization in older hospitalized patients. This intervention has been replicated and scaled up across various units and hospital settings.

12 Tips for taking a Student Led Medical Education Program from Concept to Curriculum

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. The choice of a future career specialty has always been a stressful decision for medical students. To mitigate this stress and assist students in making more informed career decisions we developed the Pre-clerkship Residency Exploration Program (PREP), a two-week summer elective program that provides students with the opportunity to gain exposure to specialities that traditionally do not receive a lot of attention in medical school. To initiate this student led program we faced many obstacles, suffered many failures, learned a tremendous amount and eventually found success. In this article, we offer 12 tips on how to create a medical education program that is sustainable, effective and receives strong buy-in from faculty and administration. Our tips come from the perspective of students starting their own program but are translatable to anyone interested in taking an innovative idea and seeing it through to fruition.

Narrative Review for Exploring Barriers to Readiness of Electronic Health Record Implementation in Primary Health Care

Objectives

The aim of this study is to explore the enabling factors associated with readiness in Electronic Health Record (EHR) implementation and to identify the barriers related to readiness regarding the situation of primary health cares in developed and developing countries.

Methods

A narrative review of open-source literature was conducted using the ProQuest, ScienceDirect, MEDLINE, and PMC databases to identify the enabling factors and barriers to EHR readiness. The keywords applied were 'electronic health record', 'readiness', 'primary health care', and 'primary care'.

Results

Some barriers were found that may affect readiness, specifically individual barriers and organizational barriers. In developing countries, organizational barriers such as a lack of skilled manpower, insufficient senior management, and a lack of interaction among team members were the common barriers, while in developed countries individual barriers such as unfamiliarity with new systems and a lack of time to use computers were frequently found as barriers to readiness.

Conclusions

This study summarized the enabling factors and barriers with regard to EHR readiness in developed and developing countries.

Community coalition readiness for implementing something new: Using a Delphi methodology

Organizational readiness for an innovation (a program, policy, or practice new to a setting) is important for successful implementation. The R = MC² heuristic focuses on capacity and motivation as a framework for readiness; it comprises 3 components and 18 subcomponents. A Delphi study with community coalition leaders was undertaken to assess when each subcomponent is most significant in the life cycle of implementing an innovation in a coalition. Results include that motivation is viewed as most important in the early stages of implementation and leadership, climate, program champions, and interorganizational relationships are relevant throughout the lifespan of implementation. Results have implications for the future of assessing and building coalition readiness.

Lessons learnt from the implementation of same-day discharge after percutaneous coronary intervention

BACKGROUND

Change in healthcare organisations is constant and requires adequate resources for effective implementation. Same-day discharge after percutaneous coronary intervention has been found to be no different from the patients who stayed overnight after procedure; however, its uptake remains low.

OBJECTIVES

The aim of the study was to identify what factors helped or hindered the implementation of same-day discharge.

METHODS

This interpretive study was conducted in a cardiac catheterisation suite of an Australian tertiary hospital between June and December 2016. Semistructured individual interviews with 26 healthcare professionals were conducted to explore the factors that influenced the implementation. A deductive approach to content analysis was guided by the theoretical domains framework.

FINDINGS

Five domains, including beliefs about consequences, professional role and identity, resources, behaviour regulation, and optimism, were identified which were strongly related to the factors that impacted the implementation. The findings showed that participants believed same-day discharge benefits while also concerning about its safety and holding different opinions on eligibility criteria. The findings also showed that participants' involvement in the change process varied with no clear roles and responsibilities and that their understanding about same-day discharge evidence and the guideline also differed. Lack of dedicated resources was also identified as the hindrance to the implementation. Behaviour regulation domain depicted how communication was managed and how the care for same-day discharge patients was improved. Despite several issues identified, participants were optimistic with achievement.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

This study has provided valuable insight into the factors that influenced the implementation, which will inform policymakers when designing interventions for future improvement. Plan for change and involvement of all stakeholders along with dedicated resources including time, people, and change management expertise are essential if hospitals want to see the success of change.

Development and Content Validation of a Transcultural Instrument to Assess Organizational Readiness for Knowledge Translation in Healthcare Organizations: The OR4KT

Background: Implementing effective interventions in healthcare requires organizations to be ready to support change. This study aimed to develop, adapt transculturally, and assess the content and face validity of the Organizational Readiness for Knowledge Translation (OR4KT) tool. The OR4KT was designed to measure the readiness of healthcare organizations to implement evidence-informed change across a variety of services.

Methods: Based on systematic reviews of the literature, a Delphi exercise, and expert consultation, we first generated an initial pool of items. Second, we developed and assessed content validity of the pilot OR4KT questionnaire in English. Third, we created French and Spanish versions using a sequential forward and backward translation approach, and transcultural adaptation by a consensus process. Finally, we conducted pilot studies in three contexts – the Basque country region (Spain), and the provinces of Québec and Ontario (Canada) – where 30 experts assessed the face validity of the three versions of OR4KT.

Results: We selected 59 items, grouped in 6 dimensions (organizational climate, context, change content, leadership, organizational support, and motivation) for the final English version of OR4KT. Translation and transcultural adaptation did not identify any content or language problems. Our findings indicate that the English, French and Spanish versions of OR4KT are linguistically equivalents and have high face validity. Only minor revisions to the wording of some items were recommended.

Conclusion: The OR4KT holds promise as a measure of readiness for knowledge translation (KT) in healthcare organizations. The validity and reliability of the three versions of the OR4KT will be assessed in real-life contexts of implementation of evidence-based changes in healthcare

Expectations and perceptions of primary healthcare professionals regarding their own continuous education in Catalonia (Spain): a qualitative study

BACKGROUND

The planning and execution of continuous education in an organization that provides health services is a complex process. The objectives, learning sequences, and implementation strategies should all be oriented to improving the health of the population. The aim of this study was to analyse the expectations and perceptions of continuous educations by primary healthcare professionals (physicians and nurses) and identify aspects that hinder or encourage the process.

METHODS

A qualitative study with 5 focus groups made up of 25 primary healthcare professionals from the Catalan Health Institute, Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain). The focus groups were audio-recorded and the results transcribed. The analysis involved: a) Reading of the data looking for meanings b) Coding of the data by themes and extracting categories c) Reviewing and refining codes and categories d) Reconstruction of the data providing an explanatory framework for the meanings e) Discussion about the interpretations of the findings and f) Discussed with relevant professionals from PHC (physicians and nurses)"Data regarding thematic content were analyzed with the support of Atlasti 5.1 software.

RESULTS

The health needs of the population were often at the core of the learning processes but the participants' views did not always spontaneously refer to improvements in these issues. Common themes that could hinder learning and where identified, including contextual aspects such as work constraints (timetables, places being covered during training) and funding policies. New learning strategies to improve the effectiveness of continuous education were proposed such as the exchange of knowledge, the activation of personal commitment to change, and the improvement of organizational aspects.

CONCLUSIONS

The primary healthcare professionals in our study viewed continuous education as a professional necessity and would like to translate the knowledge acquired to improving the health of the population. Nevertheless, professional, structural, and organizational issues impede the process.

Using implementation tools to design and conduct quality improvement projects for faster and more effective improvement

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to enable improvers to use recent knowledge from implementation science to carry out improvement changes more effectively. It also highlights the importance of converting research findings into practical tools and guidance for improvers so as to make research easier to apply in practice.

Design/methodology/approach

This study provides an illustration of how a quality improvement (QI) team project can make use of recent findings from implementation research so as to make their improvement changes more effective and sustainable. The guidance is based on a review and synthesis of improvement and implementation methods.

Findings

The paper illustrates how research can help a quality project team in the phases of problem definition and preparation, in design and planning, in implementation, and in sustaining and spreading a QI. Examples of the use of different ideas and methods are cited where they exist.

Research limitations/implications

The example is illustrative and there is little limited experimental evidence of whether using all the steps and tools in the one approach proposed do enable a quality team to be more effective. Evidence supporting individual guidance proposals is cited where it exists.

Practical implications

If the steps proposed and illustrated in the paper were followed, it is possible that quality projects could avoid waste by ensuring the conditions they need for success are in place, and sustain and spread improvement changes more effectively.

Social implications

More patients could benefit more quickly from more effective implementation of proven interventions.

Originality/value

The paper is the first to describe how improvement and implementation science can be combined in a tangible way that practical improvers can use in their projects. It shows how QI project teams can take advantage of recent advances in improvement and implementation science to make their work more effective and sustainable.

Perspectives: answering questions about quality improvement: suggestions for investigators

'Does it work?' is not the only question that practical improvers have of those investigating of quality improvements. They also want to know, 'Will it work here? What conditions do we need to implement and sustain it? Can we adapt it? How much will it cost and save? Is there enough evidence to spread it?'This perspectives article describes methods that investigators can use to answer these questions about improvement changes and improvement methods. It suggests that one reason why research is underused by improvers is because there is little research that answers these questions that would enable improvers to decide whether or how to implement an improvement in their local setting. It shows improvers that answers are possible and where improvers might find research and reports which answer these questions. It is based on reviews of research and reports about methods for producing valid and actionable knowledge to answer these questions. It describes a new 'quality improvement investigation movement' which is uniting applied researchers and improvers to use innovative methods to answer these questions. These investigators recognize the strengths of the randomized controlled trail method, and how easy it is to draw the wrong conclusions from data generated using lower cost and more timely methods. It emphasizes how investigators can choose a method suited to each question, describe the limitations of the method and communicate to improvers the degree of certainty of their answers to the questions.