EIS Conference 2025: Scaling implementation support for Australian schools

Research question

We searched for research evidence to address the following research question: What are effective forms of implementation support that organisations can provide at scale to enhance the use of an evidence-based practice? 

Eligibility criteria

We included umbrella reviews, meta-analyses, systematic and scoping reviews, and primary or pilot studies that provided causal evidence of impact using experimental or quasi-experimental designs. Studies were excluded if they lacked causal evidence (e.g., correlational studies), or were dissertations, other review types, opinion-based reviews, protocol papers, instrument development studies, book chapters, or conference publications. 

Eligible participants included organisations providing implementation support (e.g., evidence intermediaries), implementation support practitioners, adults leading or delivering programs or practices (e.g., school leaders, teachers), and children or adults receiving the program or practice. Studies were excluded where participants were not specified or were not focused on supporting practice change. Interventions were required to provide some form of implementation support across three or more sites, including automated support or training in implementation science; studies examining only the direct implementation of a practice without support were excluded. 

We included studies conducted in high- and middle-income countries, published in English since 2010. Low-income country studies, pre-2010 publications, and non-English language studies were excluded. To be eligible, studies had to report on at least one of the following: outcomes for recipients, deliverers, or providers of implementation support; implementation outcomes; or practice-change indicators (e.g., knowledge, skills, attitudes). Studies without outcome data were excluded.  

PRISMA

Included studies

Acosta, J., Chinman, M., Ebener, P., Malone, P. S., Paddock, S., Phillips, A., Scales, P., & Slaughter, M. E. (2013). An intervention to improve program implementation: findings from a two-year cluster randomized trial of Assets-Getting To Outcomes. Implementation Science, 8(1), 87. https://doi.org/10.1186/1748-5908-8-87

Albers, B., Metz, A., Burke, K., Bührmann, L., Bartley, L., Driessen, P., & Varsi, C. (2022). The mechanisms of implementation support-findings from a systematic integrative review. Research on Social Work Practice, 32(3), 259–280. https://doi.org/10.1177/10497315211042375

Brown, C. H., Chamberlain, P., Saldana, L., Padgett, C., Wang, W., & Cruden, G. (2014). Evaluation of two implementation strategies in 51 child county public service systems in two states: Results of a cluster randomized head-to-head implementation trial. Implementation Science, 9(1), Article 134. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13012-014-0134-8

Calvert, H. G., Fleming, C. M., Lowe, M., Lewis, T., Siebert, C. F., Havlicak, A., Anderson, N., Castleton, T., & Turner, L. (2025). Training and technical assistance increase the fidelity of implementation of a universal prevention initiative in rural schools: Results from a 3-year cluster-randomized trial. Prevention Science, 26(1), 56– 68. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-025-01776-0

Chinman, M., McCarthy, S., Hannah, G., Byrne, T. H., & Smelson, D. A. (2017). Using Getting To Outcomes to facilitate the use of an evidence-based practice in VA homeless programs: A cluster-randomized trial of an implementation support strategy. Implementation Science, 2(1), Article 34. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13012-017-0565-0

Chinman, M., Acosta, J., Ebener, P., Malone, P. S., & Slaughter, M. E. (2015). Can implementation support help community-based settings better deliver evidence-based sexual health promotion programs? A randomized trial of Getting To Outcomes®. Implementation Science, 11(1), Article 78. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13012-016-0446-y

Chinman, M., Ebener, P., Malone, P. S., Cannon, J., D’Amico, E. J., & Acosta, J. (2018). Testing implementation support for evidence-based programs in community settings: A replication cluster-randomized trial of Getting To Outcomes®. Implementation Science, 13(1), Article 131. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13012-018-0825-7

Chinman, M., Goldberg, R., Daniels, K., Muralidharan, A., Smith, J., McCarthy, S., Medoff, D., Peeples, A., Kuykendall, L., Vineyard, N., & Li, L. (2021). Implementation of peer specialist services in VA primary care: A cluster randomized trial on the impact of external facilitation. Implementation Science, 16(1), Article 60. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13012-021-01130-2

Davis, R., & D’Lima, D. (2020). Building capacity in dissemination and implementation science: A systematic review of the academic literature on teaching and training initiatives. Implementation Science, 15(1), Article 97. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13012-020-01051-6

Fleming, C. M., Calvert, H. G., & Turner, L. (2025). Supporting implementation of universal prevention initiatives in K-12 schools: impacts on fidelity through organizational readiness and team functioning in a cluster-randomized trial. Implementation Science Communications, 6(1), Article 4. https://doi.org/10.1186/s43058-024-00691-9

Gold, R., Bunce, A., Cowburn, S., Davis, J. V., Nelson, J. C., Nelson, C. A., Hicks, E., Cohen, D.J., Horberg, M.A., Melgar, G., Dearing, J.W., Seabrook, J., Mossman, N., & Bulkley, J. (2019). Does increased implementation support improve community clinics’ guideline-concordant care? Results of a mixed methods, pragmatic comparative effectiveness trial. Implementation Science, 14(1), Article 100. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13012-019-0948-5

Johnson, J. E., Wiltsey-Stirman, S., Sikorskii, A., Miller, T., Poleshuck, E., Moore Simas, T. A., Carravallah, L., Miller, R., & Zlotnick, C. (2025). Outcomes of the ROSE Sustainment (ROSES) Study, a sequential multiple assignment randomized implementation trial to determine the minimum necessary intervention to sustain a postpartum depression prevention program in agencies serving low-income pregnant people. Implementation Science, 20(1), Article 9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13012-025-01420-z

Juckett, L. A., Bunger, A. C., McNett, M. M., Robinson, M. L., & Tucker, S. J. (2022). Leveraging academic initiatives to advance implementation practice: A scoping review of capacity building interventions. Implementation Science, 17(1), 49. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13012-022-01216-5

Lane, C., Wolfenden, L., Hall, A., Sutherland, R., Naylor, P. J., Oldmeadow, C., Leigh, L., Shoesmith, A., Bauman, A., McCarthy, N., & Nathan, N. (2022). Optimising a multi-strategy implementation intervention to improve the delivery of a school physical activity policy at scale: Findings from a randomised noninferiority trial. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 19(1), Article 106. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-022-01345-6

Locke, J., Shih, W., Kang-Yi, C. D., Caramanico, J., Shingledecker, T., Gibson, J., Frederick, L., & Mandell, D. S. (2019). The impact of implementation support on the use of a social engagement intervention for children with autism in public schools. Autism, 23(4), 834-845. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361318787802

Leeman, J., Calancie, L., Hartman, M. A., Escoffery, C. T., Herrmann, A. K., Tague, L. E., Moore, A.A., Wilson, K.M., Schreiner, M, & Samuel-Hodge, C. (2015). What strategies are used to build practitioners’ capacity to implement community-based interventions and are they effective?: a systematic review. Implementation Science, 10(1), Article 80. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13012-015-0272-7

Nathan, N. K., Sutherland, R. L., Hope, K., McCarthy, N. J., Pettett, M., Elton, B., Jackson, R., Trost, S.G., Lecathelinais, C., Reilly, K., Wiggers, J.H., Hall, A., Gillham, K., Herrmann, V., & Wolfenden, L. (2020). Implementation of a school physical activity policy improves student physical activity levels: Outcomes of a cluster-randomized controlled trial. Journal of Physical Activity and Health, 17(10), 1009–1018. https://doi.org/10.1123/jpah.2019-0595

Nathan, N., Hall, A., McCarthy, N., Sutherland, R., Wiggers, J., Bauman, A. E., Rissel, C., Naylor, P., Cradock, A., Lane, C., Hope, K., Elton, B., Shoesmith, A., Oldmeadow, C., Reeves, P., Gillham, K., Duggan, B., Boyer, J., Lecathelinais, C., & Wolfenden, L. (2022). Multi-strategy intervention increases school implementation and maintenance of a mandatory physical activity policy: Outcomes of a cluster randomised controlled trial. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 56(7), 385–393. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2020-103764

Rosenkranz, R. R., Dixon, P. M., Dzewaltowski, D. A., McLoughlin, G. M., Lee, J. A., Chen, S., Vazou, S., Lanningham-Foster, L.M., Gentile, D.A., & Welk, G. J. (2023). A cluster-randomized trial comparing two SWITCH implementation support strategies for school wellness intervention effectiveness. Journal of Sport and Health Science, 12(1), 87–96. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jshs.2021.12.001

Scott, V. C., Jillani, Z., Malpert, A., Kolodny-Goetz, J., & Wandersman, A. (2022). A scoping review of the evaluation and effectiveness of technical assistance. Implementation Science Communications, 3(1), Article 70. https://doi.org/10.1186/s43058-022-00314-1

Smith, S. N., Almirall, D., Choi, S. Y., Koschmann, E., Rusch, A., Bilek, E., Lane, A., Abelson, J.L., Eisenberg, D., Himle, J.A., Fitzgerald, K.D., Liebrecht, C., & Kilbourne, A. M. (2022). Primary aim results of a clustered SMART for developing a school-level, adaptive implementation strategy to support CBT delivery at high schools in Michigan. Implementation Science, 17(1), 42. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13012-022-01211-w