WG4: Implementation Science

Focus of Working Group 4 (WG4) will be on processes which underpin effective implementation of the findings from the other three WGs. Knowledge on best practices, however robust, is of little use if it is not adopted by mental health services across Europe as much as is feasible.
Recent decades have seen the development of understanding on the facilitators and obstacles to embedding evidence-based innovations into routine health care. This understanding has led to the design and testing of mechanisms which can maximise the facilitators and overcome many of the obstacles to changing practice. These generic mechanisms will be examined by WG4 and tailored to the specific context of coercion in mental health care in hospitals and the community.

An overall implementation model will be formulated based on this analysis and bespoke implementation packages for different contexts (e.g. high vs. low resource services) in the three WG1, WG2 and WG3 areas will be drawn from this overall model. Elements of these packages will be shared with staff in selected countries for feedback on feasibility, acceptability and clinical utility. WG4 will meet twice a year and organise a Training School (in Year 4). The 3 STSMs in this WG will be shorter and more varied (up to 12 weeks with 3 hosts, 4 weeks per host) to enable implementation experts to visit and exchange views with as many participating organisations as possible and to get a sense of key implementation issues.

WG4 will appoint a task leader and use its network activities to develop the overarching implementation model and will also produce specific deliverables relevant to its focus: mapping exercise report and state-of-the-art review.