Blog

The end goals of ImpleMentAll

Tue. 21. Apr 2020 15:27

As ImpleMentAll has embarked on its final year, we are reflecting more and more on the end goals of our project. What will be remembered when this big implementation project officially ends? What is it that we really want to achieve? Well, two things, mainly. And with this blog post we will take you on a journey to the end goals of ImpleMentAll.

First of all we are motivated by a need to increase provision of innovative eHealth solutions to citizens who need them. Secondly, and as importantly, we work to increase the effectiveness of implementation of eHealth services on the basis of implementation research. So, in essence, we want to disseminate eHealth services to people who need them, while also making this exercise easier for others working with the same aim and meeting the same challenges as us.

Our project has been running for more than three years, working to improve implementation of eHealth services. And just as everybody else, we are seeing and feeling the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. In these times where delivering health services over the Internet is not optional anymore, implementation of eHealth technologies such as iCBT services for depression and anxiety will proceed in unprecedented ways. Despite current challenges related to the worldwide health crisis, the work to integrate and embed innovative interventions in routine care settings remains to be executed and evaluated accurately to make sure the interventions are as effective and efficient as they are designed to be. In addition, even though they are now taking speed, not all implementation efforts are as effective as they can be and need to be adapted to local settings and over time. This is why the ImpleMentAll project and especially the end goals that the consortium pursues are so relevant, also in times of containing and recovering from pandemic infectious diseases.

In that respect, ImpleMentAll will deliver an online toolkit specifically designed and tested for its effectiveness in improving implementation outcomes through tailored strategies. These strategies are developed and adapted in close collaboration with relevant stakeholders to address barriers that are most pressing in specific contexts and time. The project consortium aims to contribute to the field in the mid-to-longer term by having a better understanding of complex implementation processes and being able to measure them accurately using state-of-the-art implementation science approaches.

The ultimate aim of this is to improve uptake of eHealth services that

• are known to be effective
• have the potential to increase or guarantee access to healthcare
• improve quality and efficiency of healthcare services across Europe and beyond

The two goals will support and strengthen each other, and we know that, to have a successful project, we need to keep researching and adjusting the toolkit to make it intuitively usable as well as viable and relevant in practice.

The ongoing pandemic crisis only strengthens our resolve to ensure that our results make a difference in the field of eHealth implementation. We are more motivated than ever to find new solutions for improving eHealth.

What is your motivation and how does the COVID-19 outbreak impact you and your work?