So what? Elevating the impact of implementation science

Given the substantial public funding of health-related research, tangible benefits of this support must be demonstrated. Implementation science provides actionable methods to enhance population health, reduce health inequities, and guide effective public health and clinical practices and policies. We must elevate the notion of impact (the "so-what gap") and the role of implementation science, particularly in university settings.

We distinguish between scientific output and impacts. Impacts in implementation science are commonly defined as improvements in health outcomes, quality of life, quality of services, or policy change. In contrast, traditional academic outputs, such as citation counts and grant awards, hold minimal, direct societal relevance. Principles of audience segmentation (partitioning the target audience for dissemination and implementation into smaller groups by meaningful distinctions), which are increasingly applied in implementation science, can enhance impact. We highlight trade-offs in enhancing the focus on impact across multiple categories (e.g., accountability, evaluation). We describe four essential domains of implementation impact: speed of research translation, sustainability, de-implementation, and equity. Multiple examples, across diverse topics, illustrate these domains (e.g., HIV treatment, use of community health workers). To boost impact via more active dissemination and implementation of research findings, we provide ideas within five categories: (1) co-production of knowledge, (2) tailored dissemination, (3) organizational support, (4) capacity building, and (5) implementation metrics.

Generating new research knowledge does not guarantee societal impact. For implementation science to become more relevant to societal needs, enhancing and evaluating its impacts matter; otherwise, systemic changes required in institutions will continue to evolve slowly. We argue that impactful implementation science involves developing new skill sets and uncovering meaningful work that changes the field while adopting a collaborative working approach with individual researchers, their organizations, funders, and the communities they aim to benefit. Navigating the hurdles and translating research into practice and policy can amplify societal impact, making implementation science more applicable, accessible, and equitable for all.