title: Implementing health research through academic and clinical partnerships: a realistic evaluation of the Collaborations for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRC).
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The English National Health Service has made a major investment in nine partnerships between higher education institutions and local health services called Collaborations for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRC). They have been funded to increase capacity and capability to produce and implement research through sustained interactions between academics and health services. CLAHRCs provide a natural 'test bed' for exploring questions about research implementation within a partnership model of delivery. This protocol describes an externally funded evaluation that focuses on implementation mechanisms and processes within three CLAHRCs. It seeks to uncover what works, for whom, how, and in what circumstances.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study is a longitudinal three-phase, multi-method realistic evaluation, which deliberately aims to explore the boundaries around knowledge use in context. The evaluation funder wishes to see it conducted for the process of learning, not for judging performance. The study is underpinned by a conceptual framework that combines the Promoting Action on Research Implementation in Health Services and Knowledge to Action frameworks to reflect the complexities of implementation. Three participating CLARHCS will provide in-depth comparative case studies of research implementation using multiple data collection methods including interviews, observation, documents, and publicly available data to test and refine hypotheses over four rounds of data collection. We will test the wider applicability of emerging findings with a wider community using an interpretative forum.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The idea that collaboration between academics and services might lead to more applicable health research that is actually used in practice is theoretically and intuitively appealing; however the evidence for it is limited. Our evaluation is designed to capture the processes and impacts of collaborative approaches for implementing research, and therefore should contribute to the evidence base about an increasingly popular (e.g., Mode two, integrated knowledge transfer, interactive research), but poorly understood approach to knowledge translation. Additionally we hope to develop approaches for evaluating implementation processes and impacts particularly with respect to integrated stakeholder involvement.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Health-Related Research, School of Healthcare Sciences, Bangor University, Bangor, Gwynedd, UK. j.rycroft-malone@bangor.ac.uk
authors.forename: Jo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rycroft-Malone
authors.forename: Joyce E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Wilkinson
authors.forename: Christopher R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Burton
authors.forename: Gavin
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Andrews
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ariss
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Baker
authors.forename: Sue
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dopson
authors.forename: Ian
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Graham
authors.forename: Gill
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Harvey
authors.forename: Graham
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: Brendan G
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: McCormack
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Staniszewska
authors.forename: Carl
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Thompson
mesh_terms: D003159:Community-Institutional Relations; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods; D004059:Diffusion of Innovation; D036262:Empirical Research; D055317:Evidence-Based Practice / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006291:Health Policy; D006302:Health Services Research / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007857:Leadership; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D017146:Models, Organizational; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D016730:Program Development; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012107:Research Design; D006113:United Kingdom