Kids Brain Health Network (KBHN) Award:
The Centre for Implementation Level 1 Certification
KBHN is investing in the next generation of implementation leaders across the pediatric neurodevelopmental disability sector.
We’re excited to sponsor a limited number of learners to complete The Center for Implementation’s Level 1 Certification in Implementation Practice. Level 1 courses provide foundational knowledge of implementation, outlining roadmaps and helpful processes for designing, spreading, and scaling your change efforts.
This opportunity will help you:
- Strengthen your implementation planning and evaluation skills
- Improve your ability to move research into action
- Build connections within KBHN’s growing Implementation Community of Practice
Who Is Eligible?
Applicants must be:
1. Either:
- A graduate student, postdoctoral fellow, or researcher at a Canadian postsecondary academic institution.
OR - A team leader working in a local implementation setting (e.g., children’s treatment centre, children’s hospital, community-based program) delivering evidence-based interventions to children with neurodevelopmental disabilities and/or their caregivers.
2. Working on a project in the field of neurodevelopmental disabilities.
Deadline: Wednesday, December 3 at 6 p.m. PT
Implementation Science enables Kids Brain Health Network (KBHN) to scale and spread proven solutions for children and families.
In 2024, KBHN launched its Implementation Community of Practice initiative, centred on advancing implementation science efforts across KBHN and in the field of neurodevelopmental disability.
Webinar
November 2025
Intersectionality and Implementation Science in Child and Youth Health, Development, and Disability
Presenters Logan Wong, Dr. Cole Etherington, and Dr. Karys Peterson-Katz, explored how intersectionality can transform implementation science—making research more inclusive, equitable, and effective for all children and youth. This webinar was co-hosted by Kids Brain Health Network and CHILD-BRIGHT.
September 2025
Introduction to Hybrid Effectiveness-Implementation Approaches
Co-hosted by Kids Brain Health Network (KBHN) and CHILD-BRIGHT Network, this session explores how hybrid effectiveness-implementation studies can bridge the gap between research and real-world practice. Dr. Sara Landes, along with Dr. Gabriela Szydlowski and Ebrahim Mahmoudi (sharing a CHILD-BRIGHT case example) dive into the three distinct types of hybrid approaches—what sets them apart, how they work, and when to use each to maximize impact.
June 2025
Where do Communities of Practice fit in Learning Health Systems?
Our featured speaker, Dr. Stephanie Brooks, walks attendees through the core concepts and practical applications of learning health systems, offering actionable insights to help build stronger, more effective collaborative communities. Key objectives include clarifying the concept of learning health systems, differentiating the various potential roles of communities of practice within them, and offering recommendations on how to optimize these communities for maximum impact.
April 2025
A perfect pairing: engagement science and implementation science
An inspiring and thought-provoking panel presentation including Dr. Andrea Cross, Ms. Sara Pot, Dr. Sarah Munce, and Ms. Rachel Martens. Panellists discussed the synergy between engagement science and implementation science, engagement strategies used in their child health implementation projects, and ideas and next steps for advancing engagement in implementation initiatives.
Implementation Community Resource List
This collection of implementation evergreen resources are compiled through generous recommendations from our Implementation Community members and presenters. This collection is not intended to be comprehensive nor constitute an endorsement of any specific organization, methodology or framework. We encourage you to explore broadly and share any additional suggestions that may help us to implement better for kids.
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Introduction to Implementation Science
- Curran 2020: Implementation Science made too simple: a teaching tool.
- Khan 2025: Implementation Science Explained: what it is, why it matters, and how it’s
used. - Bauer & Kirchner 2020: Implementation science: what is it and why should I care?
- Pullman & King: That Implementation Science Podcast.
- Implementation Science 101: What even is implementation science?
Designing for Implementation
- The Center for Implementation’s StrategEase Tool.
- Moore 2025: What is the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF)? A framework for implementation science and behaviour change.
- Atkins et al. 2017: A guide to using the Theoretical Domains Framework of behaviour change to investigate implementation problems.
- Damshroder et al. 2022 The updated Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research based on user feedback.
- Reardon et al. 2025: The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) User Guide: a five-step guide for conducting implementation research using the framework.
- Moore & Khan 2020: 5 Practical Tips for Mapping Barriers and Facilitators to an Implementation Framework.
- Find TMF tool (tool to find theories, models, and frameworks).
- Powell et al. 2015: A refined compilation of implementation strategies: results from the Expert Recommendations for Implementing Change (ERIC) project.
Spread & Scale
- Lee et al. 2024: Are they the same? Disentangling the concepts of implementation science research and population scale up.
- Greenhalgh et al., 2017: Non-adoption, Abandonment, and challenges to Scale-up, Spread, and Sustainability (NASSS) Framework.
- ISSaQ 4.0: Innovation Scalability Self-Administered Questionnaire.
- Intervention Scalability Assessment Tool
- NASSS Tools
- ExpandNet
Implementation Support
- Aldridge et al. 2023. Trajectory of external implementation support activities across two states in the United States: a descriptive study.
- Aldridge et al. 2023. Mechanisms of change in external implementation support: a conceptual model and case examples to guide research and practice.
- The Center for Implementation- Implementation Support Core Competencies and Functions.
- Metz et al. 2021: Implementation practice in human service systems: understanding the principles and competencies of professionals who support implementation.
Engagement Science & Implementation Science
- Ramanadhan et al. 2024: Using participatory implementation science to advance health equity.
- Villalobos et al. 2024: Prioritizing research needs and opportunities at the intersection of implementation science and engagement science.
- Tamarack Institute – The Collaboration Spectrum Revisited
- Metz et al. 2022: Building trusting relationships to support implementation: a proposed theoretical model.
- Metz A, Damscroder L. Essential Implementation. “There is a deep disconnect” Practical implementation [Podcast].
Equity
- The Center for Implementation Equity Guiding Questions.
- Etherington et al. 2020: Applying an intersectionality lens to the theoretical domains framework: a tool for thinking about how intersecting social identities and structures of power influence behaviour
- Bringing Equity to Implementation Science (special issue).
- Woodward et al. 2019: The health equity implementation framework: proposal and preliminary study of hepatitis C virus treatment.
- Woodward et al. 2021: A more practical guide to incorporating health equity domains in implementation determinant frameworks.
- Khan 2022: Equitable implementation: weaving equity into selecting change strategies.
Evaluation
Hybrid effectiveness-implementation studies
- Curran et al. 2022: Reflections on 10 years of effectiveness-implementation hybrid studies
- Type I example: Lane-Fall et al. 2014: Handoffs and transitions in critical care (HATRICC): protocol for a mixed methods study of operating room to intensive care unit handoffs
- Type II example: Rich et al. 2017: Implementation-effectiveness trial of an ecological intervention for physical activity in ethnically diverse low income senior centers
- Type III example: Swindle et al. 2017: A mixed methods protocol for developing and testing implementation strategies for evidence-based obesity prevention in childcare: a cluster randomized hybrid type III trial
Learning Health Systems
- Conceptual Model: Menear et al. 2019: A framework for value-creating learning health systems. Health Research Policy & Systems.
- Engine Model: Reid RJ et al. 2024: Actioning the Learning Health System: An applied framework for integrating research into health systems. SSM – Health Systems.
- Social Science Model: Sheikh & Abimbola 2021: Learning health systems: pathways to progress. Flagship report of the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research. Geneva.
- Brooks et al 2024: How to use communities of practice to support change in learning health systems: A landscape of roles and guidance for management.
How to get involved
Our community comprises two core groups and activities: 1) bimonthly webinars open to the public for broader network sharing and connecting, and 2) bimonthly community chats with a smaller group of KBHN-affiliated members.
Webinar Sessions
These sessions are offered bimonthly (excluding August and December) and are open to everyone. Session presenters are both internal and external to KBHN. We focus on a variety of implementation topics, mainly exploring ‘hot topics’ in the field and ideas put forward by our Implementation Community that relate to child health and development.
Community Group Sessions
Attendees include KBHN-affiliated individuals who are taking or have completed The Center for Implementation Courses (Level 1 or 2 Implementation Support Specialist Certification) or individuals with implementation training or experience. We meet bimonthly to ask questions, share resources, reflect, and problem-solve related to varying implementation topics and members’ activities.
Stay in touch
Subscribe to the KBHN newsletter for the latest updates on our upcoming sessions.
For any questions or to learn more about KBHN’s growing Implementation Community, email research@kidsbrainhealth.ca.