Identifying Methods to Select and Tailor Implementation Strategies to Context-Specific Determinants in Child Mental Health Settings: A Scoping Review

Abstract

This scoping review describes the state of the literature regarding Implementation Strategy Mapping Methods (ISMMs) within the context of child mental health practice delivery. Goals included (a) identify and describe ISMMs addressing determinants of implementing mental health evidence-based interventions (MH-EBIs) for children and (b) describe the scope of the literature (e.g., outcomes, remaining gaps) related to identified ISMMs. Following PRISMA-ScR guidelines, 197 articles were identified. After removing 54 duplicates, 152 titles and abstracts were screened, yielding 36 articles that were screened during the full-text review. The final sample included four studies and two protocol papers (n = 6). A data charting codebook was developed a priori to capture relevant information (e.g., outcomes) and content analysis was utilized to synthesize findings. Six ISMMs were identified: innovation tournament, concept mapping, modified conjoint analysis, COAST-IS, focus group, and intervention mapping. ISMMs were successful in leading to the identification and selection of implementation strategies at participating organizations, and all ISMMs included stakeholders throughout these processes. Findings revealed the novelty of this research area and highlighted numerous areas for future investigation. Implications related to implementation, service, and client outcomes are discussed, including the possible impact of utilizing ISMMs to increase access to MH-EBIs for children receiving services in community settings. Overall, these findings contribute to our understanding of one of the five priority areas within implementation strategy research—enhancing methods used to design and tailor implementation strategies—by providing an overview of methods that may be utilized to facilitate MH-EBI implementation in child mental health care settings.Trial Registration: Not applicable.

Identification and development of implementation strategies: the important role of codesign

“…But also, that for every setting, different (combinations) of strategies are appropriate. Therefore, other Implementation Strategy Mapping Methods could also be used as guidance for the development of the implementation strategy bundle, for example concept mapping, focus groups or conjoint analysis ( 8 ). However, because of the novelty of the research area in implementation strategy development models, little is known about the effectiveness of the models regarding the adoption of the implemented intervention ( 8 ).…”

“…Therefore, other Implementation Strategy Mapping Methods could also be used as guidance for the development of the implementation strategy bundle, for example concept mapping, focus groups or conjoint analysis ( 8 ). However, because of the novelty of the research area in implementation strategy development models, little is known about the effectiveness of the models regarding the adoption of the implemented intervention ( 8 ). Therefore, we used Implementation Mapping, the most well-known and widely used method that incorporates stakeholder input, and adjusted its steps to better align with the scope of our study (multiple settings).…”

“…Notably, it is not expected that every setting has similar barriers for implementation; instead, various combinations of barriers are likely to emerge, which may change over time ( 6 , 7 ). The lack of guidance makes it challenging to translate the strategies to specific contexts for different EBPs ( 5 , 8 ). Selecting appropriate implementation strategies and mapping and tailoring them to address the barriers in the specific context require a systematic approach.…”

“…Today, several Implementation Strategy Mapping Methods guide the process of selecting and developing implementation strategies ( 8 ), each containing three general steps. First, determinants that could facilitate or hamper the implementation of an EBP within the local context should be assessed.…”