The Role of De-Implementation Research in Prevention Science

Recently, there have been tremendous gains in our understanding of the processes, barriers and facilitators that can support or hinder the scaling up of evidence-based prevention programs, practices and policies in order to improve public health and safety. This progress has been supported in part by a range of programs, research-practice partnerships, and funding opportunities at NIH and other Federal research agencies. Yet, there has not been a simultaneous emphasis on the de-implementation of or de-investment in ineffective or potentially harmful prevention programs and practices. In order to fully realize the public health and safety potential of evidence-informed prevention, more research is needed to understand the processes involved in stopping practices or programs that are ineffective at best or harmful at worst.

In this session, representatives from Federal funding agencies will discuss emerging interest in and efforts to support research in the area of de-implementation. The discussion will focus on a range of topics including: various fields and disciplines that are engaged in this work; the range of terms that have been used to describe de-implementation; multilevel methods, models, and interventions for de-implementation to advance definitions and frameworks; identification of key priorities for future de-implementation prevention research across multidisciplinary fields; the alignment of this work with the broader implementation research agenda within prevention science. Representatives from each agency will first briefly discuss efforts at their agency to build a program of research in the area of de-implementation/de-investment as well as speak to initial efforts that span across agency specific missions. Key themes from these brief presentations will be summarized and then the discussion will be opened up to the participants for a facilitated dialogue. The overall goal of the session will be to gather a better understanding of the existing multidisciplinary perspectives on de-implementation research, obtain ideas and strategies for advancing de-implementation research within prevention science and identification of key priorities for de-implementation prevention research moving forward.