Abstract
Background
This paper describes the means by which a United States National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)-funded cooperative, Juvenile Justice-Translational Research on Interventions for Adolescents in the Legal System (JJ-TRIALS), utilized an established implementation science framework in conducting a multi-site, multi-research center implementation intervention initiative. The initiative aimed to bolster the ability of juvenile justice agencies to address unmet client needs related to substance use while enhancing inter-organizational relationships between juvenile justice and local behavioral health partners.
Methods
The EPIS (Exploration, Preparation, Implementation, Sustainment) framework was selected and utilized as the guiding model from inception through project completion; including the mapping of implementation strategies to EPIS stages, articulation of research questions, and selection, content, and timing of measurement protocols. Among other key developments, the project led to a reconceptualization of its governing implementation science framework into cyclical form as the EPIS Wheel. The EPIS Wheel is more consistent with rapid-cycle testing principles and permits researchers to track both progressive and recursive movement through EPIS. Moreover, because this randomized controlled trial was predicated on a bundled strategy method, JJ-TRIALS was designed to rigorously test progress through the EPIS stages as promoted by facilitation of data-driven decision making principles. The project extended EPIS by (1) elucidating the role and nature of recursive activity in promoting change (yielding the circular EPIS Wheel), (2) by expanding the applicability of the EPIS framework beyond a single evidence-based practice (EBP) to address varying process improvement efforts (representing varying EBPs), and (3) by disentangling outcome measures of progression through EPIS stages from the a priori established study timeline.
Discussion
The utilization of EPIS in JJ-TRIALS provides a model for practical and applied use of implementation frameworks in real-world settings that span outer service system and inner organizational contexts in improving care for vulnerable populations.
Trial registration
NCT02672150. Retrospectively registered on 22 January 2016.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
4-13-2018
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40352-018-0068-3
Funding Information
This study was funded under the JJ-TRIALS cooperative agreement, funded at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The authors gratefully acknowledge the collaborative contributions of NIDA and support from the following grant awards: Chestnut Health Systems (U01DA036221); Columbia University (U01DA036226); Emory University (U01DA036233); Mississippi State University (U01DA036176); Temple University (U01DA036225); Texas Christian University (U01DA036224); University of Miami (R21DA044378) and University of Kentucky (U01DA036158). NIDA Science Officer on this project is Tisha Wiley.
Repository Citation
Becan, Jennifer E.; Bartkowski, John P.; Knight, Danica K.; Wiley, Tisha R. A.; DiClemente, Ralph; Ducharme, Lori; Welsh, Wayne N.; Bowser, Diana; McCollister, Kathryn; Hiller, Matthew; Spaulding, Anne C.; Flynn, Patrick M.; Swartzendruber, Andrea; Dickson, Megan F.; Fisher, Jacqueline Horan; and Aarons, Gregory A., "A Model for Rigorously Applying the Exploration, Preparation, Implementation, Sustainment (EPIS) Framework in the Design and Measurement of a Large Scale Collaborative Multi-Site Study" (2018). Center on Drug and Alcohol Research Faculty Publications. 1.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/cdar_facpub/1
Included in
Behavioral Disciplines and Activities Commons, Criminal Law Commons, Immune System Diseases Commons, Juvenile Law Commons, Public Health Commons, Substance Abuse and Addiction Commons, Virus Diseases Commons
Notes/Citation Information
Published in Health & Justice, v. 6, 9, p. 1-14.
© The Author(s). 2018
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.