Resource
Webinar
This webinar looked at the unique contributions and practical application of implementation science in family planning, reproductive health, and maternal and child health. Drawing from their experiences, presenters also addressed the critical and complicated question of how to create and sustain effective, diverse partnerships to better generate and use evidence to inform policy and practice.
Laura Reichenbach (the Evidence Project/Population Council) opened with a discussion about the defining characteristics of implementation science and how those characteristics make IS a useful tool for researchers and practitioners seeking to close the “know-do” gap in FP/RH/MCH.
Using the example of community-based provision of injectable contraceptives, John Stanback (FHI 360) illustrated the power of implementation science to advance research and practice, from early feasibility studies to longer-term questions of coverage and sustainability.
Finally, Emily Peca (TRACtion Project/URC-CHS), Wangui Muthigani (Kenya Ministry of Health), and Walter Odoch (ECSA) spoke about the role of implementation science in the rapid progress of respectful maternity care, from the perspective of research, policy, and implementation.