Identifying capacity building priorities for implementation science in suicide prevention: a concept mapping study in...

Capacity building in the science and practice of implementation is critical for driving and evaluating meaningful change. However, capacity needs of stakeholders to effectively apply implementation science in suicide prevention remain unclear.

To address this gap in Australia, we conducted a concept mapping (CM) study to identify and prioritize stakeholder capacity-building needs in this area.

Diverse stakeholders: practitioners, lived experience advocates, researchers, public servants, and clinicians working within the suicide prevention sector in Australia participated in the study. Using CM, participants individually brainstormed statements representing capacity-building needs for implementation science for suicide prevention. These statements were then organized in clusters and rated on importance and feasibility. Data were collected, analyzed, and visually represented using the groupwisdom™ platform.

In total, 52 stakeholders participated in at least one stage of the study (i.e. brainstorming, sorting and/or rating). Brainstorming generated 59 statements, which were synthesized into 53 distinctive statements and supplemented with 13 statements from the literature. A multidimensional scaling and hierarchical cluster analysis generated many cluster solutions, out of which an eight-cluster solution was chosen as the most meaningful. Knowledge dissemination and lived experience integration clusters were rated highest on importance and feasibility.

This study provides a snapshot of implementation capacity-building needs and priorities within the suicide prevention sector in Australia. The identified priorities can help inform future sector capacity-building initiatives for implementation.