Developing an evidence-based practice typically requires several years, if not decades of dedicated efforts. As reflected in the three primary components of EBPs (i.e., science, clinical utility, and cultural competence), collaboration among scientific, policy, service provision, and other community agents is essential. It also takes at least 3-5 years to effectively and successfully scale up EBPs in community based settings which often takes substantial commitment and collaboration. The Institute's role is to facilitate collaboratin between stakeholders, monitor how effectively implementation of EB{s is occurring and create mechanisms for sustainable change. The Institute uses frameworks developed from Implementation Science literature to effectively play this role.

The National Institutes of Health define implementation science as "the study of methods to promote the integration of research findings and evidence into healthcare policy and practice. It seeks to understand the behavior of healthcare professionals and other stakeholders as a key variable in the sustainable uptake, adoption, and implementation of evidence-based interventions" ( http://www.fic.nih.gov/researchtopics/pages/implementationscience.aspx).

The Institute's role is to facilitate collaboration among stakeholders, monitor how effectively implementation of EBPs is occurring and create mechanisms for sustainable change. We help facilitate implementation and provide utilization, fidelity, and outcome data for particular EBPs and promising practices for the purposes of tracking progress and facilitating improvements in implementation. The Institute uses frameworks developed from Implementation Science literature to effectively play this role.

Institute Presentations:

• Blueprints Conference [Spring 2012] Using Standardized Assessment to Monitor and Improve the Implementation of Evidence-Based Programs for Juvenile Offenders
• Blueprints Conference [Spring 2012], Maryland's System Reform and EBPs - This presentation looks at the development of Evidence-Based Practices in the context of system reform in Maryland as well as provides examples of the implementation data being collected and monitored in Maryland.
• Measuring Fidelity presentation - This presentation walks through the importance of fidelity monitoring and the steps necessary to set up a fidelity system.

Institute Implementation Reports:

• MST Annual Report 2011
• FFT Annual Report 2011

For additional reports visit the Research & Evaluation Center.

Other Resources:

• Maryland EBP Map
• Evidence-Based Practices Implementation Center Summary
• Stages of Implementation
• What is an Evidence-Based Practice?
• Evidence-Based vs. Promising Practice vs. Practice Based Evidence
• The National Implementation Research Network (NIRN): http://nirn.fpg.unc.edu/