In the latest Utopia series, Tony finds himself in trouble over a failed scheme to subsidise the installation of rooftop solar on 1 million Australian homes – the program is available, but it’s fallen far short of expectations. “Maybe the problem is your implementation?” offers Nat, as a helping hand.
Indeed. Tony finds that the online application system for solar subsidies is completely unusable. People are just giving up. Even when free money is on the table.
It’s an “Aha!” moment for the fictional Nation Building Authority (NBA). But in the real world, the role of implementation is no less vital for policymakers and program sponsors rolling out reforms or new initiatives. Instead of being taken up as we expect, all too often good ideas fall flat when put into practice. Or effective, evidence-based programs working in one place fail provide the same results in another.
“Many people get into implementation science because they’ve seen promising projects fail, and they want to understand how to do better,” says Dr Robyn Mildon, CEO of the Centre for Evidence and Implementation (CEI). “Over the past 30 years, these ‘fails’ have provided a rich source of learning, enabling the development of more comprehensive and scientific approaches to implementing new practices, policies or processes.”
Putting the science of implementation front-and-centre is the upcoming Evidence and Implementation Summit 2023, co-hosted by CEI, Monash University and the National University of Singapore’s Centre for Behavioural and Implementation Science Interventions (BISI). This global expert gathering brings together implementation leaders and learners to probe how we can best apply high-quality evidence to create more effective policy and programs – with the power to change lives.
Implementation as a science
Key to implementation science is a methodical, intentional and analytical approach to bridging the gap between what we know works and what is done in routine practice.
“It’s a science because it is the systematic study of the things that work and the things get in the way of the uptake of evidence-informed innovation. It’s a nuanced, critical analysis – a continual learning loop,” explains Robyn.
“At the moment, it takes at least 15 years for an innovation that we know to be beneficial to be adopted into practice,” says Professor Aron Shlonsky, Head of Social Work at Monash University.
“If you are working with children and families, the critical period of child development is zero to five years – so 15 years equals three generations of children missing out. We simply have to do better.”
A timely summit
“The Evidence and Implementation Summit is a global marketplace of research, case studies, debate and new ideas – with application across sectors, settings and populations,” says Professor Nick Sevdalis, Academic Director at BISI in Singapore.
“It’s a huge opportunity to learn, share and reflect on how good evidence is best put into policy and practice so it can benefit individuals, families and communities.”
The Summit will feature more than 200 presentations from local and international speakers, offering cutting-edge thinking across subject areas including health and mental health, family and social services, First Nations perspectives, leadership, international development and climate change.
Alongside many of the top speakers from our region (Australia, New Zealand and Asia), the Summit attracts an international expert line-up:
- Eric Barends, co-author of the book Evidence-based management: How to use evidence to make better organizational decisions – used in 80 universities worldwide
- The UK’s Chief Social Worker for Children and Families, Isabelle Trowler, who will discuss steps taken to drive system-wide change to improve social care in England
- Canadian Professor Maureen Dobbins, whose work has: identified barriers and enablers to research being used; explored the information needs of public health decision-makers; and developed, implemented and evaluated a variety of knowledge translation strategies
- Healthcare implementation specialist and seasoned organisational leader, investigator, and project manager, Dr Bianca Albers
- Dr Vivian Tseng, President and CEO of the New York-based Foundation for Child Development, who will address the topic, “Meeting the moment: Democratising evidence for policy, practice, and the public”
- Former Obama Administration advisor and host of the GovInnovator podcast, Dr Andrew Feldman
With growing inequality in Australia and across the globe, it is critical we put in place policies, programs and practices that have the best chance of making a difference for people facing adversity.
“We are all working hard every day to make things better, but we can actually be doing the opposite if we don’t have the evidence or the implementation in hand,” Robyn notes.
“Unlike most fields, implementation science aims to put itself out of a job. Good implementation supports people to solve problems collectively, it builds capacity, it teaches how to understand and use data effectively, and it transfers skills and knowledge.”
