Dianna and Lauren present on ‘both sides of the same coin’ at AcademyHealth Dissemination and Implementation Science Conference

Introduction

Lauren and Dianna ventured to the 18th Annual Conference on the Science of Dissemination and Implementation in Health to disseminate on two projects aimed at understanding and improving family-centered care in early intervention (EI). Lauren took the lead to present on the third aim of an R01 project funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Qualilty (AHRQ), which examined mechanisms underlying family-centered care coordination (FC-CC) in EI across multiple states using an innovative convergent mixed-methods study design within a case study framework. Dianna and Lauren also co-presented a poster on the second aim of our work funded by a UIC Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS) implementation pilot project. This project accessed diverse EI stakeholders across Illinois to refine a logic model needed to guide further implementation trials of the PEM assessment as an FC-CC solution for this service system. These posters were well received, and the venue intentionally provided them each with new scholarly community as they advance their chosen trajectories. While the publications are in progress, view this knowledge translation video that links these two projects together.

Dianna Shares: One of my biggest “aha” moments came during a presentation where the speaker described implementation as closely aligned with quality improvement, and quality improvement as inherently connected to operations. That framing really resonated with me... [and] I was particularly intrigued by a study examining the role of trusted individuals in sharing information, specifically, who is viewed as a trusted source and what characteristics make someone an effective “influencer” to support implementation efforts. I found this perspective compelling and highly relevant to real-world implementation efforts not only in research but also in my work.

Mary Shares: We have often described the two posters that were presented last month as being two sides of the same coin in our lab's research agenda. Dianna bravely stepped into a leadership role due to an unexpected team transition and become an influencer who ensured that we gained access to other influencers with expertise for refining our model for PEM implementation in EI. It was equally rewarding to see Lauren juggle her contributions for both studies through to completion. She maximized opportunity to rigorously prepare for dissemination and taught our team the value of this approach because 'excellence takes time'. I am proud of their respective efforts for helping our team develop a suite of refereed research and knowledge translation products and then sharing our discoveries with new scholarly community at this conference. They continue to model tenacity by working evenings and weekends to advance two more refereed products in our pipeline. Stay tuned!