Background: Although studies have demonstrated that implementation leadership and climate are important constructs in predicting evidence-based practice (EBP) implementation, concrete descriptions of how they operate during organizational implementation efforts are lacking. This case study fills that gap through an in-depth description of an organization with effective implementation leadership that successfully built a strong implementation climate. This case study provides an illustration of implementation leadership and climate in tangible, replicable terms to assist managers, practitioners, and researchers in addressing the organizational context in their own implementation projects.
Method: A single organization, intrinsic case study was employed to paint a multifaceted picture of how one organization leveraged implementation leadership to strengthen a climate for the successful implementation of digital measurement-based care. The case was drawn from a cluster-randomized trial designed to test the effects of a leadership-focused implementation strategy on youth-level fidelity and clinical outcomes of digital measurement-based care. Following the completion of the trial, case study activities commenced. Descriptive summaries of multiple data sources (including quantitative data on implementation leadership and climate, coaching call and organizational alignment meeting recordings and notes, and development plans) were produced and revised iteratively until consensus was reached. Leadership actions were analyzed for corresponding dimensions of implementation leadership and climate.
Results: Specific actions organizational leaders took, as well as the timing specific strategies were enacted, to create a climate for implementation are presented, along with lessons learned from this experience.
Conclusion: This case study offers concrete steps organizational leaders took to create a consistent and aligned message that the implementation of a specific EBP was a top priority in the agency. The general approach taken to create an implementation climate provides several lessons for leaders, especially for EBPs that have broad implications across an organization.
Keywords: alignment; case study; implementation; implementation climate; implementation leadership; organizational context.
Using treatments with known positive impact in community-based mental health programs is challenging. Many studies suggest leaders of these programs can help. Similarly, certain features of community-based programs can also be helpful. This case study of an outpatient mental health clinic provides rich descriptions of actions leaders took that shaped the environment in their program and helped improve the use of a treatment with known positive impact. This case study can serve as a practical guide for leaders to reference when aiming to improve the use of treatments with known impact in their own programs.
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