Prof Alice Coffey

Implementation Science is the scientific study of methods and strategies that facilitate the uptake of evidence-based practice and research by practitioners and policymakers, thus providing practical solutions to health services delivery and other challenges.

Interventions and evidence-based practices that are poorly implemented – or not implemented at all – do not produce the expected health benefits. The field of implementation science seeks to systematically close the gap between what we know and what we do by identifying and addressing the barriers that slow or halt the uptake of proven health interventions and evidence-based practices.

The HIST (Health Implementation Science and Technology) group leads an interdisciplinary programme of capacity building, research collaboration and networking that strengthens academic and researcher engagement with implementation science and encourages the integration, application and sustainability of implementation science methods in future research endeavours within UL and beyond. HIST is focused on advancing research in implementation science and on the systematic uptake of evidence- based, technology-enhanced interventions into practice and policy across all priority research areas. It achieves this by encouraging and supporting the early integration of implementation science in all research projects, demonstrating the applicability and translational aspect of implementation science across disciplines, and conducting interdisciplinary implementation research.

The cross-cutting activities of the group are aimed at supporting other research areas to employ implementation science methodologies in achieving impact across a wide range of projects in clinical and policy contexts.

The HIST vision for the next five years is to further build expertise in implementation science research, to lead and support the embedding of implementation science into research culture and to gain national and international recognition as a leader in the field of interdisciplinary implementation research.

Our Research Group lead for Implementation Science is Prof. Alice Coffey.

Her programme of research includes Implementation research; transitional care; services evaluation; Gerontological nursing; Competencies for health and social care professionals working with older people; Dementia, Advance care planning and Palliative care. As principle investigator, lead co-investigator and co-applicant she has secured competitive funding from a variety of sources, national and international.