Effectiveness–implementation hybrid studies to speed the translation of complex health interventions into practice

Research to develop and test complex health interventions has traditionally followed a multistage process encompassing (1) efficacy research (i.e. explanatory trials), to confirm the intervention’s effects under tightly controlled conditions; (2) clinical effectiveness research (i.e. effectiveness or pragmatic trials), to confirm the intervention’s effectiveness within routine practice settings and populations; and finally, (3) implementation research, to assess barriers and facilitators to use of the intervention in routine practice and to test strategies that support the intervention’s uptake and integration into care. This chapter describes an alternative research paradigm, called the hybrid effectiveness–implementation approach, which blends characteristics of effectiveness research and implementation research within a set of hybrid effectiveness–implementation studies – referred to as hybrid studies. The goal of this approach is to speed the translation of scientific discoveries into practice and optimise the use of scientific resources.