Integrating implementation and user-centred design strategies to enhance the impact of health services: protocol from a concept mapping study

Background Innovative approaches are needed to maximise the uptake and sustainment of evidence-based practices in a variety of health service contexts. This protocol describes a study that will seek to characterise the potential of one such approach, user-centred design (UCD), which is an emerging field that seeks to ground the design of an innovation in information about the people who will ultimately use that innovation. The use of UCD to enhance strategies for implementation of health services, although promising, requires a multidisciplinary perspective based on a firm understanding of how experts from each discipline perceives the interrelatedness and suitability of these strategies. Method This online study will use a combination of purposive and snowball sampling to recruit a sample of implementation experts ( n = 30) and UCD experts ( n = 30). These participants will each complete a concept mapping task, which is a mixed-method conceptualisation technique that will allow for identification of distinct clusters of implementation and/or UCD strategies. The research team has selected a set of implementation strategies and UCD strategies that each participant will sort and rate on dimensions of importance and feasibility. Data analyses will focus on describing the sample, identifying related clusters of strategies, and examining the convergences, divergences, and potential for collaboration between implementation science and UCD. Discussion By leading to a better understanding of the overlap between implementation science and UCD, grounded within established theoretical frameworks, this study holds promise for improving the impact and sustainability of evidence-based health services in community settings.