Bridging the Gap Between Research and Practice in Mental Health Service Settings: An Overview of Developments in Implementation Theory and Research

- There have been significant advances in implementation theory and research over the past 20 years.
- Effects on implementation of evidence based psychosocial treatments (EBPT) are multilevel.
- Interrelationships exist between leadership, organizational social context, attitudes towards, and success of, EBPT implementation.
- Implementation strategies such as mandates, incentives, leadership development, consultation, and adaptation can address challenges at each level and foster EBPT implementation.

Twenty years after Sobell's (1996) influential call to integrate advances in behavior therapy into clinical settings, significant progress has been made in implementation science. In this narrative review, we provide an overview of implementation research findings and highlight recent findings that can inform efforts to bridge the gap between research and practice in mental health service settings. Key findings are summarized, organized according to levels of influence described in two implementation frameworks: The Exploration, Planning, Implementation, and Sustainment Framework (EPIS; Aarons et al., 2011) and the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR; Damschroder et al., 2009). Important levels of influence to consider when implementing new treatments include the outer context, inner context, characteristics of the individual, and characteristics of the innovation. Research on strategies to prepare clinicians to deliver evidence-based psychosocial treatments (EBPTs) and to address contextual barriers to implementation at each level is described, with discussion of implications for the implementation of EBPTs and next steps for research.