Implementation: The Missing Link Between Research and Practice
Resource Type: Articles and Reports
Description: There is a great deal of discussion about the need to revitalize the nation’s infrastructure. New roads, bridges, schools, and public buildings need to be built using the latest in green technology. Current infrastructure needs to be repaired and retrofitted. This brief makes the case that our human services infrastructure for effective implementation requires a similar investment so that effective programs and practices can be widely adopted and used to produce socially significant outcomes. In the United States, the federal government spends over $95 billion a year to fund research to help create new interventions and over $1.6 trillion a year to support services to citizens (Clancy, 2006). However, research results are not being used with sufficient quantity and quality to impact human services and have not provided the intended benefits to consumers and communities.
