Recommendations for interdisciplinary research collaboration for early career dissemination and implementation researchers: A multi-phase study.

Abstract

Introduction

Dissemination and implementation (D&I) scientists are key members of collaborative, interdisciplinary clinical and translational research teams. Yet, early career D&I researchers (ECRs) have few guidelines for cultivating productive research collaborations. We developed recommendations for ECRs in D&I when serving as collaborators or co-investigators.

Methods

We employed a consensus-building approach: (1) group discussions to identify 3 areas of interest: "Marketing yourself" (describing your value to non-D&I collaborators), "Collaboration considerations" (contributions during proposal development), and "Responsibilities following project initiation" (defining your role throughout projects); (2) first survey and focus groups to iteratively rank/refine sub-domains within each area; (3) second survey and expert input on clarity/content of sub-domains; and (4) iterative development of key recommendations.

Results

Forty-four D&I researchers completed the first survey, 12 of whom attended one of three focus groups. Twenty-nine D&I researchers completed the second survey (n = 29) and 10 experts provided input. We identified 25 recommendations. Findings suggest unique collaboration strengths (e.g, partnership-building) and challenges (e.g., unclear link to career milestones) for ECR D&I researchers, and underscore the value of ongoing training and mentorship for ECRs and the need to intersect collaborative D&I efforts with health equity principles.

Conclusions

Research collaborations are essential in clinical and translational research. We identified recommendations for D&I ECRs to be productive research collaborators, including training and support needs for the field. Findings suggest an opportunity to examine research collaboration needs among early career D&I scientists, and provide guidance on how to successfully provide mentorship and integrate health equity principles into collaborative research.

Department

Description

Provenance

Subjects

Implementation science, health services research, information dissemination, interdisciplinary research, intersectoral collaboration, program development

Citation

Published Version (Please cite this version)

10.1017/cts.2024.684

Publication Info

Lane, Hannah G, Sallie D Allgood, Julie Schexnayder, Hayden B Bosworth, Ana A Baumann and Allison A Lewinski (2025). Recommendations for interdisciplinary research collaboration for early career dissemination and implementation researchers: A multi-phase study. Journal of clinical and translational science, 9(1). p. e39. 10.1017/cts.2024.684 Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/33910.

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Scholars@Duke

Lane

Hannah Grace Lane

Assistant Professor in Population Health Sciences

I am an implementation scientist with expertise in mixed methods and community-engaged research. My research focuses on improve implementation of federal policies that increase access to nutritious foods and physical activity for children facing social and economic disadvantages.

My research centers around 3 primary focus areas:
(1) optimizing implementation of evidence-based healthy eating and physical activity policies and practices in child-serving settings (mostly schools);

(2) studying implementation flexibilities of federal child nutrition assistance policies during COVID-19

(3) engaging children and adolescents as active participants in implementation research, including developing and testing pragmatic, age-appropriate evaluation metrics;

The ultimate goal of my research is to develop and disseminate strategies that improve health-promoting policy implementation in under-resourced community settings and, ultimately, reduce pediatric health inequities


My methods expertise is broadly applicable across child and adolescent health outcomes and community settings. This expertise includes: implementation and dissemination methods, stakeholder-driven research, youth participatory research methods, mixed methods evaluation, pragmatic measures development (including rapid qualitative data collection and analysis), organizational capacity-building, theory-based program development, policy implementation.

Areas of Expertise: Implementation Science, Health Behavior, and Health Management

Bosworth

Hayden Barry Bosworth

Professor in Population Health Sciences

Dr. Bosworth is a health services researcher and Deputy Director of the Center of Innovation to Accelerate Discovery and Practice Transformation (ADAPT)  at the Durham VA Medical Center. He is also Vice Chair of Education and Professor of Population Health Sciences. He is also a Professor of Medicine, Psychiatry, and Nursing at Duke University Medical Center and Adjunct Professor in Health Policy and Administration at the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research interests comprise three overarching areas of research: 1) clinical research that provides knowledge for improving patients’ treatment adherence and self-management in chronic care; 2) translation research to improve access to quality of care; and 3) eliminate health care disparities. 

Dr. Bosworth is the recipient of an American Heart Association established investigator award, the 2013 VA Undersecretary Award for Outstanding Achievement in Health Services Research (The annual award is the highest honor for VA health services researchers), and a VA Senior Career Scientist Award. In terms of self-management, Dr. Bosworth has expertise developing interventions to improve health behaviors related to hypertension, coronary artery disease, and depression, and has been developing and implementing tailored patient interventions to reduce the burden of other chronic diseases. These trials focus on motivating individuals to initiate health behaviors and sustaining them long term and use members of the healthcare team, particularly pharmacists and nurses. He has been the Principal Investigator of over 30 trials resulting in over 400 peer reviewed publications and four books. This work has been or is being implemented in multiple arenas including Medicaid of North Carolina, private payers, The United Kingdom National Health System Direct, Kaiser Health care system, and the Veterans Affairs.

Areas of Expertise: Health Behavior, Health Services Research, Implementation Science, Health Measurement, and Health Policy

Lewinski

Allison A. Lewinski

Associate Research Professor in the School of Nursing

I am a health services researcher and implementation scientist with a joint appointment at the Duke University School of Nursing (DUSON) and the Durham Veterans Affairs Health Care System (VHA). My expertise spans diabetes distress, qualitative research methods, and virtual care delivery (including telehealth and digital health).

My research examines how virtual care interventions can reduce distress, improve self-management, expand access to evidence-based care, and enhance patient and population health outcomes. I focus on patient-, provider-, and system-level factors that influence the use and effectiveness of virtual care. This work has been funded by competitive grants, published in high-impact journals, presented at national conferences, and used to inform health system decision-making. I am frequently sought by colleagues locally and nationally for expertise in diabetes distress, qualitative methods, and virtual care strategies for grants, projects, and manuscripts.

I strive to improve outcomes for individuals with chronic illness by developing equitable, sustainable virtual care solutions and evaluating their implementation. To optimize these interventions, I apply qualitative and implementation science approaches to ensure alignment among patient needs, care modalities, disease states, and social contexts. My work addresses critical questions: for whom and for what purposes are these interventions effective, in which contexts, and at what points in the care continuum. Ultimately, my research advances the implementation and adoption of virtual care to reduce psychosocial distress and improve health outcomes through patient-clinician interactions and system-level innovations.


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