ASHFoundation Implementation Science Summit

The American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation’s Implementation Science Summit, held in Carlsbad, California, in March 2014, launched a transformative program about the science of integrating research into practice. Expert speakers from several disciplines covered topics ranging from conceptual and methodological issues to implementation models and research funding, with interactive group discussion throughout. The audience represented professors, doctoral students, and clinicians, as well as leadership from the ASHFoundation and the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). 

Summit Highlights 

Big-Picture Thinking  
Presentations included speakers from disciplines ranging from medicine to public health, epidemiology to social work, education to psychology. Participants had the opportunity to explore conceptually how types of implementation research fit together with implications for communication sciences and disorders (CSD). 

Strategies and Tools  
Sessions provided researchers with tools to begin thinking about how to embrace implementation in their research programs and what to consider in expanded research objectives. Interactive discussions focused on challenging issues of design, measurement, fidelity, and sustainability. 

Future of Implementation Science  
Presentations highlighted research funding opportunities and focused on future action in the CSD discipline. 

Keynote Presentations 

Keynote Address: Paradigm Shift: Rethinking Research in the Context of Healthcare and Education Reform 
Dennis D. Embry, PhD, PAXIS Institute 
A presentation that challenges researchers to think about science from a fresh perspective and to consider a paradigm shift for bringing evidence into practice. 
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Keynote Address: Developing an Integrated Implementation Research Agenda: Guidance from Prevailing Frameworks 
Brian S. Mittman, PhD, VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System; Kaiser Permanente Southern California; UCLA School of Medicine 
A presentation that introduces and defines the scope of a broad research-practice framework, which provides context for presenting the major gaps from research efficacy to implementation, and acknowledges the landscape of different approaches and confusion in terminology.
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Individual Presentations and Panel Discussions 

Applied Implementation Research: Addressing the "How" of Real World Practice  
Renée I. Boothroyd, PhD, MA, MPH, CHES, National Implementation Research Network (NIRN), Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 
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Health Service Research: What Is It? 
Michael Weiner, MD, MPH, Indiana University School of Medicine 
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Scaling Up Evidence-Based Practices: Lessons Learned 
Robert Horner, PhD, University of Oregon 
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Community-Based Participatory Research in Implementation Science: Is It for You? 
Kirsten Senturia, PhD, Senturia & Rabkin Consulting; University of Washington 
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Enhancing Dissemination Through Marketing and Distribution Systems: A Vision for the Future 
Matthew W. Kreuter, PhD, MPH, Washington University St. Louis 
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Implementation Research: Practical Application of Frameworks and Strategies for Evidence-Based Practice Implementation  
Gregory A. Aarons, PhD, University of California San Diego 
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Implementation Research: Priority Questions and Outcomes 
Enola K. Proctor, PhD, Washington University St. Louis 
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Balancing Fidelity and Adaptation: If We Want More Evidence-Based Practice, We Need More Practice-Based Evidence 
Lawrence W. Green, DrPH, University of California San Francisco 
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Advancing the Science of Sustainability: A Dynamic Perspective 
David Chambers, DPhil, National Institute of Mental Health 
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CSD Research Methodology Exemplars 

Research Methodology Exemplar: Lessons Learned About High Fidelity LEAP Replication  
Phillip S. Strain, PhD, University of Colorado, Denver
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Improving Treatment via Continuing Assessment—The Lidcombe Program for Childhood Stuttering 
Barry Guitar, PhD, University of Vermont 
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Voice Treatment for Parkinson Disease (LSVT®LOUD): Research Lab to Global Implementation 
Lorraine A. Ramig, PhD, University of Colorado, Boulder 
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Universal Newborn Hearing Screening—The Evolution of a Revolution 
Christine Yoshinaga-Itano, PhD, University of Colorado, Boulder 
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Funding Mechanisms and Institutional Representatives  

Department of Veterans Affairs: Christopher Moore, PhD 
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Institute of Education Sciences: IES-funded grantee Howard Goldstein, PhD 
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National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders: Amy Donahue, PhD 
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National Institute of Mental Health: David Chambers, PhD 
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Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute: Brian S. Mittman, PhD 
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Action Planning—Moving Toward Implementation Science 

Margaret Rogers, PhD, ASHA Chief Staff Officer for Science and Research 
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Howard Goldstein, PhD, ASHA Vice President for Science and Research 
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Patricia A. Prelock, PhD, ASHA Past President 
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