The Issue
Evidence-based practices for improving child health care often are not implemented on a large scale. While research continues to advance ways to reduce variability in service delivery and disparities in health outcomes, the promise of these findings has yet to be realized.
What the Study Found
Dissemination, diffusion, and implementation (DD&I) science offers a model to identify innovations and understand the preferences, capabilities, and social networks likely to help facilitate adoption. This Commonwealth Fund–supported study outlines how the DD&I model can be used to enhance widespread adoption of innovative care practices that can improve the overall health of children. The authors detail the DD&I process from the initial exploration for practice change to planning, pilot implementation, and organization-wide implementation. The success and sustainability of each model requires constant surveillance and assessment to enable continuous improvement, the authors write. DD&I research is still "in its infancy," caution the authors. Further research is needed to define the characteristics of successful DD&I programs and the impact environment has on their sustainability.
