ImpResPAC (Implementation Research Proposal Appraisal Criteria) is a comprehensive quantitative tool which can be used to appraise the quality of implementation research proposals in healthcare. The content of ImpResPAC was informed by a large international Expert Advisory Panel. 

ImpResPAC includes 71 domain items, each indicative of high-quality implementation research. Domain items are organised over 10 domains, each representing a core element of implementation research, including implementation theories, models and frameworks, implementation strategies and implementation outcomes.

Significant attention has, and continues, to be directed to supporting the design of high-quality implementation research. However limited attention has been directed to developing criteria to appraise the quality of implementation research proposals in healthcare. To fill this gap, we developed ImpResPAC to support grant reviewers, research teams and educators. We designed ImpResPAC into a user-friendly, interactive PDF which is easy to navigate. We have also included comprehensive instructions on how to use it.

Louise Hull

Louise Hull

How does it work?

Applying ImpResPAC to implementation research proposals allows strengths and weaknesses of implementation research proposals to be readily identified. For example, research teams may fail to evaluate appropriate implementation outcomes to address the study aims and objectives, or overlook the unintended consequences (both positive and negative) of implementing an evidence-based intervention.  

 

What are the benefits of applying ImpResPAC ?

Application of ImpResPAC has several potential benefits:

  • It can be used by grant reviewers to identify and differentiate between poor and high-quality implementation research proposals and to inform funding decisions
  • It can be used by research teams to support the development of high-quality implementation research proposals
  • It can provide a comprehensive framework to be used by educators to appraise implementation research proposal submitted as part of educational endeavours. 

We hope that ImpResPAC will be a valuable tool to support reviewers, researchers and educators in assessing and improving the standards of implementation research.

Chloe Sweetman

Chloe Sweetnam, a postgraduate researcher at the Kinetix Group who helped to develop ImpResPAC

Watch the video

Louise Hull and Chloe Sweetnam will present the Implementation Outcomes Repository and the ImpResPAC tool to the Office of Spread and Scale at Women's College Hospital, Canada on 10 March. 

Find out more

View the ImpResPAC interactive PDF

Read more about our implementation science research

References

Development and psychometric evaluation of the Implementation Science Research Project Appraisal Criteria (ImpResPAC) tool: a study protocol. Sweetnam et al, 2022. BJM Open.