Implementation Science and Urban Health Research

Excerpt

Much recent attention in medicine and public health has been focused on promoting translation of bench science (i.e., drug discovery) to bedside utility. This, in essence, is applied clinical science. Minor mention has been made of the larger problem, namely, the failure to achieve broad adoption of these “translation” successes. For example, an efficacious and effective hepatitis B vaccine has been licensed for over two decades, yet uptake among the highest risk group, injection drug users, has remained low.1 ^, 2 Annual rates of influenza immunization consistently fall far short of public health goals.3 The rates for appropriate use for asthma controller medications remain disturbingly low.4 ^, 5 Many other examples of failure to translate medical discovery into clinical implementation exist. A palms-up shrug with eye rolling is neither efficacious nor effective in addressing this public health issue. A more productive response is to investigate what it takes for findings from good science to reach the public. …